I
►
1
l>^
DOCTRINAL ERRORS
THE APOSTOLICAL AND EARLY
FATHERS'.
*' I HAD RATHKR TRUST TO THE SHADOW OF THE CHURCH WHICH THE
SCRIPTURE TEACHES, THAN TO ALL THE MEN'S WRITINGS SINCE THE DAYS OP
polycarp."
Bishop Hooper.
I
By WILIJUiife^^SKBN, Jun.
LONDON:
HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.,
HATCHARD AND SON, AND SEELEY AND SON;
AND
J. Y. KNIGHT, LEEDS.
1835.
o 7
J;7 6f^^
A. PTCKABD, raiKTEE, LEEDS.
PREFACE
It has been very common with writers on divinity to deal,
tenderly with the errors of the early Christian fathers, and
much might with propriety be urged in justification of
the practice. There is that also, in the nature of past
controversies, which will satisfactorily account for it.
But, it cannot be concealed, that this forbearance of the
Protestant divines is now taken advantage of by the
Roman Catholics, and those who agree with them on the
subject of the unwritten tradition of the church, and that
it occasions considerable difficulty and inconvenience.
The following work is composed under a sense of
this difficulty. The author began to peruse the writings
of the early fathers with considerable doubt and hesita-
tion, as to the mode in which their tradition ought to
be received. And it occurred to him long before he had
completed his undertaking, that a faithful exposure of
their mistakes might subserve an useful purpose in the
cause of Christianity.
As neither the author's time, nor his opportunities of
IV PREFACE.
access to books, are unbounded, he has been compelled to
forego the perusal of any modern works which may have
preceded him on the various subjects that have fallen
under discussion, and to devote himself entirely to the
writings of the fathers themselves, in preparing it. He
is conscious that his book may have suffered considerably
on this account; but, nevertheless, it appeared perfectly
evident that nothing could compensate for want of
acquaintance with the authors whose opinions he proposed
to examine.
But to the works of one modem divine he is glad of
this opportunity of expressing his deep obligations. It
is scarcely necessary to name the treatises of the Bishop
of Lincoln upon Justin Martyr and Tertullian. These,
he hopes, that he has generally applied to the purpose
for which the right reverend author intended them : he
has endeavoured, by their help, to extend his acquaintance
with the fathers of whom they treat, rather than to save
his own labour. In one instance, however, he has
departed from this rule, and he regrets that, through
inadvertency, it has not been acknowledged in the proper
place. It is in the fifth chapter of the present work,
upon Angels : the idea of embodying the opinions of an
author upon angels and demons is altogether the learned
prelate's : it is merely extended there to a synopsis of
the doctrine of the fathers of the two first centuries
upon these subjects.
I
PREFACE. V
The rough note of the remarks upon the cessation
of miracles in the second chapter, was written before the
author had the advantage of seeing these admirable
treatises, and it gave him the utmost pleasure to find
his conjecture confirmed by so high an authority. He
merely mentions this, because, as it is a question of
evidence, every separate and independent examination of
the same facts which leads to the same conclusion, is
of some importance in it.
Archbishop Wake's translation of the apostolical
fathers is generally adopted in the present work, though
it is sometimes departed from.
He has only further to observe, that it has been
throughout his earnest endeavour to state the opinions
of these early writers fairly and accurately. Should he
prove to have failed (and he well knows that this is far
from improbable) he will have at any rate the consolatory
reflection, that it has not been for lack either of honesty
of purpose, or of the most zealous and devoted attention
he was capable of giving to the subject.
CONTENTS.
I
PAGE.
INTUODUCTIOX, xix
CHAPTER I.
- NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION.
Capable of proof from the absurdities of Idolatry, 1
Supernatural communications more frequent in the early ages of the
world, 2
Gradually withdrawn from thence to the times of the New Testament, 3
Divine purpose accomplished in such a revelation of the divine will,
and such a state of human society, as should obviate the necessity
of further miraculous interference, 4
How this revelation ought to be received, 6
Whether the apostolical fathers were under the same obligation, 6, ^
CHAPTER II.
THE WRITINGS OP THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS WERE NOT
INSPIRED.
Epistles of Clement and Barnabas probably written before the comple-
tion of the canon, 8
Cessation of miracles, j)
No allusion to existing miracles in Clement and Barnabas, ibid.
-Ignatius and Polycarp, 10
Mode of speaking of existing miracles by Justin, Theophilus, Irenaeus,
and Tertullian, H
They had ceased in the times of Clement of Alexandria, 12
Gradual but rapid departure of miraculous gifts, 13
Inspiration withdrawn in the same manner, 14
Semi-inspiration ]5
Vm CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Apostolical fathers not inspired, and, therefore, in that respect simi-
larly circumstanced with all other Christians, 10
CHAPTER III.
TRADITION.
Advantages of the apostolical fathers as the cotemporaries of our Lord
and his apostles, 17
Traditional doctrines in Christianity, 18
Their existence denied, 19
No appeal to them in the epistles of the apostolical fathers, 20
Rejected by Irenaeus, ibid.
TertuUian, 21
Asserted by Clement of Alexandria in support of the double doctrine, ibid.
No doctrine of the early fathers to be received, which is not to be
found in the Bible, 22, 23
CHAPTER IV.
OPINIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS UPON INSPIRATION.
Limits of literary excellence and inspiration imperfectly understood by
the early church, 24
Avowal of inspiration by Barnabas, 25
Ignatius, ibid.
These avowals unimportant in the determination of the canon of
Scripture, 26
Similar assertion in the Stromates of Clement, 27
Truth the essence of Christianity, 28,29
The many false and forged books of the first and second centuries, ... 30
Mode in which they were regarded by the early church, 31
Opinions on the inspiration of the Septuagint, of Irenseus, Tertullian,
and Clement of Alexandria, 32
The book of Enoch inspired, 33
The Greek philosophy inspired, ibid.
The opinions of the second century on inspiration valueless as an inde-
pendent testimony : and only important as a link in the chain of
evidence which sustains the authenticity of the canonical books, 34
Origin of these vague opinions, ibid.
I
CONTENTS. IX
PAGE.
Their effects— the Shepherd of Hermas, 35
The notion of TertuUian and Clement regarding the double doctrine, ibid.
Cause of the success of the forged books, 36
Doctrines of the second century derived from these sources as well as
from the Bible, ibid.
Design of the work, ibid.
CHAPTER V.
ANGELS.
Nothing immediately revealed to us regarding Angels, 37
Nature and attributes of good angels according to the Scriptures, ... 37 — 41
evil angels, 41 — 43
Limited nature of our scriptural knowledge on these subjects, 43
Impatience of the early church for further revelations on the nature of
angels, 44
Ignatius, ibid.
Hermas, 45
Angelic system of the fathers of the second century, ibid.
Nature of angels, 46
Free-will of angels, 47
First fall of the angels, ibid.
Second fall do 48
Universally believed in the second century, ibid.
Danger of further angelic defections, 49
Forbidden arts taught by the fallen angels, ibid.
Origin of giants and demons, 60
Satan the prince of the infernal hosts, ibid.
Their endeavours to destroy the soul, 51
They lead men into idolatry, 52
Their powers of locomotion, ibid.
Changes in the condition of the evil angels at the advent of our Lord, 53
Origin of the heresies of the second century, ibid.
Every human being has his attendant evil demon, 54
Interminable war throughout the universe, between the good and evil
angels, iMd,
Arrangement and discipline of the hosts of heaven, 55
Comparison of the Scriptural and Patristical schemes of angelic
existence, 56—58
I
X CONTENTS.
PACE.
Free-will of angels, 69
Origin of the system of demonology adopted by the early fathers, 60 — 64
The book of Enoch, 61—63
Rapid decline of the error regarding the angels, 65
The errors to which it had given rise not expunged from the traditional
creed of the church, id. 66
CHAPTER VI.
THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS BAPTISM.
The material and immaterial doctrines regarding the sacraments, 67
Asserted antiquity of the former, ibid.
Advantage of the latter in point of analogy, 68
Inconvenience of the scheme which holds the materiality of the one
sacrament and the immateriality of the other, 69
Holy Scripture the ultimate appeal upon the question, ibid.
Scripture doctrine of baptism, 70 — 78
Opinions of Clement and Barnabas, 78, 79
Hermas, 80 — 82
Hermas exalts the outward rite, 82
Justin Martyr, i 83
Irenaeus, 84
Tertullian — account of his tract " de Baptismo," 85 — 89
His doctrine of Baptism, 90
Clement of Alexandria, 90—93
Summary of the doctrine in the second century, 93
Infant Baptism, 96
Origin of baptismal regeneration, 96
CHAPTER VII.
THE EUCHARIST.
Scriptural account of its institution, 97
Allusion in it to the Paschal Lamb, 98
Different opinions maintained regarding it, 99
Presumption in favour of the immaterial doctrine, ibid.
Declarations of Scripture in harmony with this presumption, 100
Objectionable mode of stating the doctrine of the atonement, by Cle-
ment of Rome, ibid.
— — — by Ignatius, 101
CONTENTS. XI
PAGE.
Efficacy ascribed to the outward sign by Ignatius, 102
Justin Martyr on the Eucharist, 103
Wine mixed with water in the cup, ibid.
Obscure passage in Justin, 'f. ibid.
Doctrine of Justin, 104
Irenaeus on the Eucharist, 105
Change in the elements during the offertory, 106
Tertullian on the Eucharist, 107
Clement of Alexandria. Obscure passage regarding the cup, 108
Remarks upon it, 109
Clement not a transubstantiator, 110
Comparison of the doctrine of the early church, on the Eucharist, with
that of the Bible, Ill
Origin of Transubstantiation, 112, 113
CHAPTER VIII.
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
Spiritual nature of Christian worship, 115 — 117
Prayer, 117
Clement of Rome on times of prayer, 118
Hermason do. ...^. 119—121
Tertullian— his tract " de Oratione," 121—124
Erroneous practices in prayer mentioned by him, 124
Impious prayer of Clement of Alexandria, 125
Error of the early fathers on prayer, ibid.
Multiplication of the external ceremonies of Christianity, 126
CHAPTER IX.
CELIBACY AND THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY.
Apparent result of the enquiry, confirmed by the present subject, 129
Origin of the error of celibacy very apparent, ibid.
Not to be found in the self-denial enjoined in the New Testament, 130
Opinions of Pythagoras, 131
Discipline of the Essenes, 132
Probable origin of both. Buddhism, 134
Virgin-widow s, 136
Xli CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Heretics who denounced marriage, 137
Tertullian on second marriages, 138
Clement of Alexandria on marriage, 139
celibacy, 142
The perpetual virginity, 143
Not maintained by the church in the first and second centuries, 144
Clement of Alexandria the first father who maintained it ; his autho-
rity for this doctrine, 145
Doctrine of the early church on celibacy, and its consequences, 146
CHAPTER X.
ASCETICISM.
Abstinence of the Gospel, 148
Hermas on Stations, 149
Tertullian — account of his tract " Adversus Psychicos." 151
Clemens Alexandrinus. — The second Paedagogue, 1 57
Causes of the extreme rigour of discipline in the early church, 160
Its beneficial effects, 161
Mistakes of Clement, ibid'
Comparison between him and Tertullian, 162
Gnostical perfection, 163 Note
CHAPTER XI.
ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY AND PERSONS.
Passage from Clement to the Corinthians, 166
Appointment of ministers in the early church, 167
Order of the ministry, 168
Authority of the ministry,.. 169
Abolition of the Aaronical priesthood, ibid.
Remarks on Matt. xvi. 19. The power of the Keys, 171
In what it consisted, 174
New Testament doctrine regarding the authority of the Christian
ministry, 178
Argument of the Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, 182
His object in writing it a highly laudable one, 188
His notions of ecclesiastical supremacy, ibid.
Comparison of his spirit with that of St. Paul, 189
I
I
CONTENTS. Xlll
PAGE.
Error of St. Clement universally prevalent, 191
Epistles of Ignatius, 191
to the Ephesians, 192
Magnesians, 193
Trallians and Philadelphians, 194
Smyrnaeans, 195
His doctrine upon ecclesiastical supremacy, 196
Entirely without scriptural authority, 198
Tertullian on the same, and on tradition, 199
Traditional church government and ceremonies in Christianity, 200
Valentinus, 202
" It is not in the power of tradition to ordain any thing against God's
word :" this rule applicable to all things in Christianity, 203
Tendency of the error of Clement and Ignatius, 204
Heresies of the second century, 205
Danger of the church from thence, 206
Their probable cause, 207
Inconsistency of Ignatius in maintaining the divine power of the
clergy, 208
Its universal prevalence in succeeding periods, 209
Summary of the argument, ibid.
Origin of the error, 211
Its evil consequences, 212
Such opinions less prevalent in the Church of England now than for-
merly, 215
CHAPTER XII.
MARTYRDOM.
Honours bestowed upon the early martyrs, 217
Hermas on martyrdom, tJId.
Holy Spirit miraculously with them, 218
Prerogative of martyrdom, 219
Ignatius to the Romans, 220
Frantic proceedings before the Roman Tribunals, 221
Tertullian on flight in persecution, ibid.
Clement of Alexandria, 223
on the prerogative of martyrdom, 224
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SUPREMACY OF ROME.
PAGE.
This dogma pretends to no scriptural authority, 226
No countenance from Clement's epistle, ibid.
Ignatius and Irenaeus on the apostolic churches, 227
TertuUian, do., 228
Anxiety of the early fathers to exalt the See of Rome, 229
Cause of it, ibid.
Mode of fulfilment of 2 Thess. ii. 5—8., 231
CHAPTER XIV.
MODES OF INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE ADOPTED BY THE
EARLY CHURCH.
Importance of this part of the enquiry, 232
Ultimate appeal of the early fathers, upon all questions, to the inspired
books, ibid.
Licentiousness of their canon of interpretation, 233
St. Clement of Rome and the Phoenix, 234
Ignatius on 1 Pet. ii. 5., 230
The Amphibolia, 239
St. Clement of Rome on Josh, ii., 240
humility, ibid.
Asserted simplicity of the primitive Christian, 242
Justin Martyr on Isa. Ivii. 1., and certain Psalms, 243
. his dialogue with Trypho, 244
Irenaeus on John xv. 14., and Psa. Ixxxv. 12., 246
Matt. xxiv. 28., Hosea i. 2, 3., Exod. ii. 21., 247
TertuUian — Scriptural interpretations in his tract " adversus Judaeos," 248
Clement of Alexandria — the Paedagogue, 250
Strange comments on Gen. xxvL 8., and 1 Cor. iii. 2., 252
Definition of the Amphibolia, with instances from Clement of Alex.
andria, 254
The Bible an occultation, 266
Christianity and heathen philosophy, iji^
The epistle of St. Barnabas, 256
Its authenticity, 267
CONTENTS. XV
I'AGE.
Powerful influence it exerted over the writings of the second century, 257
Amphibolies upon the word |uAov froin Justin Martyr, .. ibid.
, — ^Irenaeus, 259
St. Barnabas on Exod. xvii. 8 — 13., 260
Copied by Justin and TertuUian, 261
Their doctrine on the efficacy of the sign of the cross, 262
St. Barnabas on Num. xxi. 4 — 10., ibid.
Again copied and further enlarged from the New Testament, by Justin
and TertuUian, 264
Sense in which the lifting up of the brazen serpent typifies Christ, 265
Mode in which miracles were performed, 266
No violation of the Second Commandment in making the brazen
serpent, 267
Scripture narrative altered by Barnabas and not corrected by his
copyists, 268
His comment on Gen. xlviii. 14, &c., 269
Again copied by TertuUian, ibid.
Figure of the cross and its virtues, how discovered in Scripture by
Justin, 270
by TertuUian, 271
Numerical mode of the Amphibolia from Barnabas, 272
Another mistake in his scriptural quotation, 273
Fear of the Greek philosophy in Clement's time, 274
H is mode of allaying it — the numerical amphiboly, 275
Able confutation of it by Irenaeus, 278
Other instances of it from Clement of Alexandria, 279
The worship of the cross, 280
Amphibolies upon the name of Christ, ibid.
Danger of interpreting the narratives of the one Testament, as types
of the other, 281
The sacred histories mere apologues, 282
Philo's opinions, ibid.
Jacob a type of Christ, from Irenaeus, 283
Its absurdity, and discrepancy from a comment on the same passage
by TertuUian, ibid.
Comments upon the prohibitions of animal food in the Mosaic law, ... 285
H Origin of these prohibitions, 286
H St. Barnabas, 287
H Copied from Fhilo, 289
H^ Irenaeus, ibid.
XVI CONTENTS.
PAOE.
Ingenuity of his comment, 290
Authen ticity of St. Barnabas's epistle established, ibid.
Defence of the Amphibolia, 291
Secret doctrines not to be written, ibid.
Clement's mode of defence, 292
Important admission, 293
The fjt,v^ot, ibid.
Outer and inner doctrines, 294
The Bible a mythology, 295
CHAPTER XV.
PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY.
Whether there is any necessity of proceeding with the present enquiry, 297
Errors on inspiration recapitulated, 298
Verbal inspiration of the apostles, ibid.
The freedom of the will, 299
Discussed by the Stoics and Platonists, 300
Conversion of Justin Martyr, ibid.
His Platonism, 301
His hostility to the Stoics the cause of his martyrdom, ibid.
His doctrine on free-will, 302
Irenaeus, Und.
Tertullian, 303
Clement of Alexandria a Platonist, 304
The Greek philosophers, especially Plato, borrowed from the writings
of Moses, 306
Clement on free-will, ibid.
Doctrines of Grace ; disregarded by the fathers of the second century, 306
They followed Plato rather than Christ on these points, 308
Reason of this, ibid.
Scriptural doctrine upon the question of the will, 309
Doctrines of grace maintained by St. Clement of Rome, 310
St. Barnabas, 312
___ St. Ignatius, 313
The epistle of St. Polycarp, 314
The unfeigned humility of its author, 315
Comparison of Polycarp and Ignatius, 316
Their martyrdom, 317
CONTENTS. XVll
PAGE.
Further proofs of Polycarp's humility, 318
His orthodoxy, 319
The written and unAvritten tradition of Christianity in perfect harmony
in the times of the apostolical fathers, 320
Justin's Platonism disturbed this harmony, ibid.
Its identification with Christianity, 321
CHAPTER XVI.
CONCLUSION.
The dispensation of grace altogether a new one, 324
One of its distinctive marks, the final cessation of miracles, ibid.
Order of the universe, imperfect beginnings and gradual development, 325
Christianity in harmony therewith, 326
Purity of the primitive times, ibid.
The miracles by which Christianity was established, no part of its eco-
nomy as it regards this world, 327
Mental state of the early converts, 328
Their incapacity as commentators, 329
Their tradition of no prescriptive authority, ibid.
Appendix, 331
INTRODUCTION.
I
The following account of the fathers quoted in the
present work is principally from the ecclesiastical histories
of Eusebius of Pamphylia, who wrote early in the fourth
century. It may sometimes save the reader the trouble of
referring to other books.
A.D.
Clement of Rome. — The first bishop of that See ; he
was ordained thereto by the apostles St Peter and St. Paul.
He is said to have suffered in the persecution that arose in
the third of Trajan, A.D. 101. His epistle to the Corin-
thians was written about 70 -\
Barnabas. — The companion of St. Paul. He was
originally a Levite, of Cyprus. (Acts iv. 36, 37.) His
name is supposed to have been changed from Joses to
Barnabas, (the son of consolation,) on account of the large
estate which he sold and divided among the poor at his
conversion. He alludes to the meaning of this name at the
commencement of his epistle ; a production which is not
so highly spoken of by the ancients as that of Clement. It
was written somewhere about the time of the fall of Jeru-
salem 71.
Hermas. — The author of the books which go under
this name, was unknown in the times of Eusebius. The
XX INTRODUCTION.
notion that he was the Hernias mentioned by St. Paul,
(Rom. xvi. 14^) is manifestly a fable. They are an imita-
tion of the Apocalypse of St. John, and do not appear to
have been composed earlier than the commencement of the
second century.
Ignatius. — Regarding this very eminent servant of
God, we only know that he was the disciple of St. John
the apostle, by whom he was ordained to the see of Antioch ;
and the circumstances of his martyrdom. He voluntarily
presented himself to the emperor Trajan, when that mo-
narch passed through Antioch, on his way to Armenia, to
repel the aggressions of the Parthians, and avowed himself
a Christian. This brave and high-minded (but not very
prudent) proceeding, of course, procured his own immediate
condemnation : and seems to have been the commencement
of a persecution, though the mind of the emperor was not
before made up to such a measure. He, and three others,
were sent to Rome, under a guard of ten soldiers, to be
devoured by wild beasts, in the circus, at the games which
were then about to begin. They set sail from Seleucia,
and coasted the southern shore of Asia Minor to Smyrna,
where he was allowed to communicate freely with St Poly-
carp and the Christians there. It would appear, that he
was met here by deputations from the Christians of several
cities in Asia Minor, who had heard the news of his con-
demnation. To three of these, Ephesus, Magnesia, and
Tralles, he wrote epistles from Smyrna, and also one to
Rome. The soldiers hurried him away to Troas ; and it
was from thence that he sent the three remaining epistles
that have come down to us ; to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and
to Polycarp, their bishop. He complains of the conduct of
the soldiers more than once ; calling them " ten leopards, to
whom he was bound as with a chain." (Rom. c. v.) Not-
withstanding, the facts wc have detailed, will show that
INTRODUCTION. XXI
A.D.
lie must, under the circumstances, have been treated
with considerable indulgence. The martyrdom of Ignatius
took place during the Kalends of January, in the 19th of
Trajan 118.
PoLYCARP. — The most perfect exemplar of the spirit of
Christianity in the compass of uninspired Christian anti-
quity. He was the disciple of St. John, and the friend of
Ignatius. By that apostle he was ordained bishop of
Smyrna, in Asia Minor. The few particulars that we know
concerning him are nearly all detailed in the course of the
present work. He was burnt at the stake at Smyrna, at the
advanced age of eighty-six. Only one of his epistles
remains to us, which was addressed to the church at Philippi.
Others are mentioned, though not named, in the epistle of
Irenaeus to Florinus, (apud Eusehium, lib. 5. c. 20,J but,
it seems probable, that they were merely of a private nature.
His martyrdom took place, according to the modern chro-
nologies, in the tenth of the emperor Antonius Pius 147.
Justin Martyr. — A native of Flavia Neapolis, in
Samaria. He was born of Gentile parents. By his own
account of himself, he embraced Christianity after having
tried the various sects of philosophy, without satisfaction to
his mind. Of his works, (which exercised a very powerful
influence over the early church,) three only remain. Two
Apologies for Christianity ; and his dialogue with Trypho
the Jew. Some others are also mentioned by Eusebius.
According to Tatian, his scholar, he suffered martyrdom
during the reign of Antoninus Philosophus, which com-
menced 161.
The Bishop of Lincoln's Justin.
Athenagoras The pupil of Justin, and a philoso-
pher of Athens. These are all the i)articulars we know
XXll INTRODUCTION.
A.D.
concerning him. Two of his works are still extant The
one is an Apology for Christianity ; the other is a treatise
on the resurrection of the dead. The former was written
on the occasion of a persecution, and is addressed to the
emperor Antoninus Philosophus, after his son, Commodus,
had been associated with him in the imperial dignity, and,
therefore, late in his reign. Probably it was during the
persecution, so many details of which, in the GaUic pro-
vinces, are preserved by Eusebius : and which, as he
informs us, raged with equal fury over the whole world.
This is generally computed to have taken place 177.
Tatian, the Assyrian, was also the pupil of Justin.
After his death, he fell into the errors of the Encratites,
who macerated the body through hatred to matter. Euse-
bius informs us that he was a voluminous writer, but that
his master-piece was his oration against the Greeks, which
alone remains to us of his works : but there is nothing in it
to excite a moment's regret at the loss of the rest.
Theophilus, bishop of Antioch. — A list of the works
of this father is likewise given by Eusebius ; one of them
is still extant : a defence of the Christian religion, addressed
to Autolycus, a heathen. It is a very learned, but diffuse
and heavy, production.
iRENiEUS. — The pupil of St Polycarp; by whom he
was sent to preach the Gospel among the Gauls, where he
was a presbyter under Pothinus, bishop of Lyons, and at
his martyrdom, succeeded him. According to the martyr-
ologists, he suffered in the early persecutions of Severus,
who was raised to the imperial dignity A.D. 194 : but this
is a very doubtful authority. His principal work, the five
books against the Heretics, still remains in a barbarous
INTRODUCTION. XXIU
A.D.
Latin translation. It is frequently quoted and remarked
upon in the present work.
Tertullian. — Our information regarding this eminent
and highly talented individual is just as defective as in the
preceding instances. According to Jerome, he was a native
of Carthage; the son of a proconsular centurion. He
remained a presbyter of the church until middle life, when
he was driven by the envy and contumelious treatment of
the Roman clergy, to embrace the doctrine of Montanus, a
fanatical heretic, of Phrygia. His opinions and proceedings
bear a close resemblance to those that, within these few
years, have made their appearance in this country, and in
Scotland : some of the partisans of which are understood to
avow that Montanus was inspired by the Holy Ghost. After
his conversion to Montanism, Tertullian resided at Carthage,
where he founded a sect who named themselves Tertulli-
anists. His works, which are very numerous, have been
divided into such as were written before he left the church,
and those he composed afterwards. — The Bishop of Lincoln's
Ecclesiastical History, (whence this notice of Tertullian has
been extracted,) contains the best account of them ; perhaps,
the best account that ever was written of the works of any
ancient author. Tertullian is said to have lived to an
advanced age, and to have flourished during the reigns of
Septimus Severus and Caracalla ; the latter began to reign 211.
And was murdered by Macrinus 217.
Clement of Alexandria. — Perhaps a native of Sicily ;
was afterwards the pupil of Pantaenus in the school of
Christian philosophy at Alexandria. The founder of this
sect of philosophers is unknown. It is said to have had the
approbation of Athenagoras, and I suspect that his master,
Justin, was by no means unfavourable to it. Like his
cotemporaries, Clement was a voluminous writer. Several
I
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
works of his, mentioned by Eusebius, and referred to by
himself, are now lost. Of those that remain, the Exhorta-
tion to the Gentiles is a powerful exposure of the follies of
heathenism, the Paedagogue is a rule of life for ordinary
Christians, and the Stromates is a guide to gnostical perfec-
tion. Eusebius says that he composed this last during the
reign of Severus, and accordingly we find that the chrono-
logies in the first book all terminate with the death of his
predecessor Commodus. The same author mentions also,
that it consisted of eight books, and that number occurs in
our copies : but the eighth is a dissertation on dialectics, I
think, by another hand. Clement is best known as the
tutor of Origen. The time and mode of his death are not
to be found in any author.
DOCTRINAL ERRORS,
CHAPTER I.
NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION.
THE human mind was not created for a state of entire
independence of all communications of knowledge from
the great Author of its existence. We might easily point
out its incapacity of attaining to certain truths which it
is, nevertheless, needful for man to know, and to know as-
suredly ; and by referring to the monstrous absurdities in
religion which, in all ages of the world, have arisen out
of this incapacity, triumphantly demonstrate the necessity
of a divine teaching. But the enquiry would be foreign
to our present purpose, for which it will be sufficient to
show that such has been the divine economy, by a very
superficial glance at the early history of the human race.
In the paradisaical state, the intercourses between
God and man were so constant and familiar as to evidence
that man, in maintaining that communion, was fulfilling
a primary purpose of his creation. It was only when, by
man''s disobedience, sin entered into the world, that he hid
himself from the presence of his Heavenly Father. And,
notwithstanding, we are taught by his subsequent history,
that even sin could not frustrate this purpose of his
most benevolent Creator. It did not comport with that
inscrutable wisdom, which condescends not at all to our un-
hallowed curiosity, to reveal to us many particulars regard-
ing the nature and frequency of the intercourses between
heaven and earth, during the long period that intervened
between the fall and the flood. Thus much, however, we
easily gather from what is written ; — that the direct revela-
tions of the divine will to mankind were of very frequent
occurrence, and that the providential dispensations of God
then assumed a decidedly judicial character ; much more
so than at any subsequent period : — that is, viewing the
general tenor of God's providential government at that
time as compared with any other period of equal duration,
and excluding, of course, those particular epochs when,
to effect some great change in the theocratic notions of
mankind, the Omnipotent unveiled for a season the hidings
of his power ; and said to the functions of nature, as well
as to the consciences of men, be still, and know that I
am God.
Under this aspect we shall find, that the visible deal-
ings of God with man have been regulated by a law ex-
actly analogous to that which governs the rise and growth
of all beings within the range of our observation, both
in the physical and moral world. Their earliest mode
of existence is a very crude and imperfect one ; rendering
them dependent, at first altogether, and for a longer or
shorter subsequent period in great measure, upon assist-
ances external to themselves for its continuance : and they
attain to that degree of perfection which enables them to
become self-existent, as it respects their fellow-beings, by
a process of gradual development.
Exactly after this manner hath God dealt with the
human race. When man was first driven from the pre-
sence of his Maker in paradise, to wander over the earth
that was cursed for his sake, he was dependent upon the
direct agency of the Supreme Being for the supply of his
every want ; the very coats of skins that clothed our first
parents did the Lord God make. Gen. iii. 21.
This direct superintendence appears to have been long
continued ; and to have been gradually withheld, partly,
because men had so far profited by the instructions which
had flowed to them from the fountain of all wisdom, re-
specting the common arts of life, as no longer to require
it, — ^but principally, because they had rejected the word of
the Lord, as it regarded the far more important concerns of
the life to come, and sinned against him. And if we trace
the divine economy downward, through the succeeding
periods of the human history, we shall find the Almighty
slowly withdrawing himself behind the veil of providence
— every successive departure hastened by that fatal cause
which first began the separation between man and his God,
sin : but all harmonised by the skill of Omniscience into
an entire subserviency of his great purposes ; until, in the
fulness of time, God was manifest in the flesh, the great
atonement for the sins of the whole human race was offered
upon Calvary, the gospel of the kingdom was preached to
all the nations of the Roman world, and the last breath of
inspiration refreshed the fainting spirit of the aged exile of
Patmos, and closed, finally and for ever, the book of God's
revelation to mankind.
The subsequent history of the world informs us, that
the economy of the divine dispensation had now attained
to that state of perfection for which the long preceding
series of supernatural interferences had been disciplining
and preparing the human mind. The whole will of God
to man, and all things necessary for him to know regard-
ing his future state of existence, were upon record; and
that record was capable of authentication, by every mode
of proof which it was possible for his understanding to re-
quire. God then altogether withheld any more direct dis-
play of his power, or even existence, than the standing
miracle of universal providence, whereby the invisible
things being clearly seen by those that do appear, men are
left without excuse; and those hidden miracles of grace,
which the Holy Spirit, by the ministry of the word, works
from time to time in the hearts of men, convincing the
happy subjects of them of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment, and witnessing with their spirits that they are
the children of God. But though the believer knows,
with the full assurance of faith, that God speaks to his
heart, yet a stranger intermeddleth not with his joy, — the
evidence hereof is for himself alone. — He departs from the
evil that is in the world, and walks with God in newness
of life ; and these are the only demonstrations he can offer
to his fellow men of the reality of the blessing he has
received.
Miracles, then, ceased, because the Divine Revelation,
and human society, were now placed in circumstances which
obviated the necessity of further miraculous interposition :
and therefore it inevitably follows, that the Bible is the
substitute which God hath appointed for those interferen-
ces with the established orders of Providence, wherewith,
in the infancy of the world, he manifested his will to man-
kind. So that to the question, How ought it to be received
by the succeeding generations of the human family ? we
reply, without hesitation, exactly in the same manner as
would have been received those previous revelations of the
divine will which were attended with supernatural pheno-
mena. The Bible contains the words of God, though we
hear not the voice from heaven that utters them : and every
precept therein is equally binding upon the man who, at
any period, shall have its meaning and its sanctions pre-
sented to his understanding, as it was upon him in the cir-
cumstances of whose life the revelation originated, whose
ear heard the accents of the voice of God, whose eyes
beheld the vision of angels. We have only to consider
how a revelation would be received and regarded, by the
person to whom it was vouchsafed, and we have the exact
measure of the duty of every man regarding the Holy
Scriptures.
This obligation arises from the circumstances of the
case, and is of universal authority. It was as binding upon
the apostolic men as upon the men of this generation ; and
it will be equally binding upon mankind a thousand years
hence, (should the present dispensation continue so long,)
as it is upon us. The time that may have elapsed between
the revelation, and the existence of the individual who is
made acquainted with it, is no element of the question.
All this is sufficiently apparent, and we never find
any difficulty in carrying the argument forward ; we can
readily comprehend that, if we affi^rd to our children the
same religious advantages as we ourselves enjoy, their obli-
gations, as to the mode in which they shall receive the
Scriptures and bow to their authority, are exactly the same
as our own ; and we easily follow it out to any number of
succeeding generations. But a difficulty certainly does
6
arise, when we come to pursue these reasonings retro-
spectively ; and the more remote the period to which we
carry our enquiry, the more formidable does the difficulty
become ; until we discuss the mode in which the New
Testament Scriptures ought to have been received and in-
terpreted by the apostolic fathers, when it would appear
that we have raised a question of considerable intricacy.
It is, however, essential to our present enquiry that we
should endeavour to enter fully into the merits of it. Let
us, then, consider, whether Clement, Barnabas, Ignatius,
and Polycarp, (the only apostolic men of whose writings
any thing remains to us) had or had not advantages over
their successors, whereby they were liberated from that
obligation to defer entirely to the authority of the New
Testament which we ourselves acknowledge.
There are, apparently, two circumstances in which
these advantages might have consisted. Of these an ob-
vious one, of which we may suppose them to have been
possessed, is the gift of inspiration. If this be the case,
the authority of their epistles must, of course, be equal to
that of any of the canonical writings; and whatever we
find of novelty in them, whether they be new truths or
doctrines, or new modes of stating truths or doctrines with
which we were already acquainted, we must accept all such
as further revelations vouchsafed to their authors.
The only remaining circumstance in their favour is
that they were the cotemporaries of the first propagators of
Christianity, and therefore had the opportunity of listening
to the instructions of inspired apostles, and possibly of
our Lord himself. From one or other of these they must
have derived their advantages, if they really possessed
them. The discussion of both will involve questions of
great and grave importance, which have already engaged
the attention of the Christian church to a considerable
extent.
It shall be our endeavour in treating them, strictly
to confine ourselves to those matters which are indis-
pensable to the subject in hand ; upon no occasion to lose
sight of it, for the purpose of stating opinions on points
in debate : and here, as well as elsewhere, to substantiate
the facts upon which we may ground our arguments, by
quotations from cotemporary authors ; thus availing our-
selves rather of the materials which the talents and indus-
try of the learned have provided, than of the opinions and
speculations they may themselves have advanced upon
them.
CHAPTER II.
THE WRITINGS OF THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS WERE
NOT INSPIRED.
In denying that the Apostolical Fathers derived any assist-
ance in their writings, from direct inspiration, we are met,
at the threshold of the subject, with a circumstance which
naturally enough presents itself to the mind as a difficulty
of some magnitude. The Epistles of Clement and Bar-
nabas were written from twenty to thirty years before
the completion of the New Testament canon, and those
of Ignatius and Poly carp a very short time afterwards.
Now, of Barnabas, we know that he was for a long period
the companion and fellow-labourer of the apostle St. Paul.
The constant tradition of the Church regarding Clemens
Romanus is, that he was the individual of whom the
same apostle informs us, Phil. iv. 3., that his name was in
the book of life : — ^and from the same authority we learn,
that Ignatius was ordained bishop of Antioch, and Poly-
carp of Smyrna, by St. John Theologus.^ Plainly, there-
fore, they flourished at the period when the miraculous
gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon the church
of Christ : — were not they, as well as the canonical writers,
favoured with the gift of inspiration ? We can only ob-
1 Euseb. Hiijt. lib. 3.
viate this difficulty, by opening a perplexing question ; —
that of the cessation of miracles.
At what precise period the thaumaturgic gifts were
withdrawn from the church, and the advance of Christi-
anity was left to the ordinary operations of the Holy
Spirit and to the intrinsic powers of its own verity, is
a point which has been frequently argued, but upon
which no satisfactory conclusion has yet been arrived at.
I do not, therefore, presume to offer any opinion of my
own upon it, without, in the first instance, laying before
the reader the evidence upon which I conceive it to be
founded.
I gather, from Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians,
that, when he wrote, the extraordinary influences of the
Holy Spirit were no longer enjoyed by that church : he
expressly mentions the schism he rebukes as the occasion
of their departure ;^ and all parties appear to have consi-
sidered it as final, for he never once directs them to pray
for more than the ordinary influences. There appears to
be strong evidence, in the same epistle, that they had like-
wise ceased from the church of Rome, at whose request it
was written. I infer this from his entire silence upon the
subject : it would have so powerfully served the writer's
purpose as an illustration, that I feel persuaded he would
not have failed to take advantage of it, had he been able.
This epistle was probably written before the fall of Jeru-
salem,^ A. D. 71 5 and certainly after the martyrdom of
Peter and Paul, A. D. 66.^
There is the . same absence of all allusion to the pre-
sent existence of miraculous powers in the church, in the
Epistle of Barnabas, which appears to have been written
2 Clem. Rom. ad Cor. I., § 1, 2. 3 idem, § 23, 41.
4 Idem, § 5.
10
very shortly after the fall of Jerusalem,* and I draw from
thence the same inference ; so cogent an argument in their
own favour, as that of miracles then occurring, would
hardly have been overlooked by either writer, had it been
possessed by them.
The same peculiarity is observable in the seven Epis-
tles of Ignatius, written about forty years afterwards ;
and I see not how we can assign other than the same rea-
son for it.
Of the pious and humble Polycarp we have only one
memorial, but that most precious : his Epistle to the Phi-
lippians is, in my opinion, the most edifying production
of the second century that remains to us. But here again,
there is not a single allusion to miraculous powers, pos-
sessed either by himself or any other individual his cotem-
porary. We also derive, from another source, a convincing
proof that the blessed martyr was not endowed with the
power of working miracles. The epistle of his pupil Ire-
naeus^ to Florinus, preserved by Eusebius, describes his
person and habits, and lays great stress upon his account
of the miracles of our Lord, which agreed exactly with
that in the Gospels: had Polycarp himself wrought mi-
racles, Irenaeus would doubtless have dwelt upon that
fact also, and with minuteness, to the backsliding Flo-
rinus, whom he exhorted to return to the bosom of the
church.
The earliest ecclesiastical writer of the second cen-
tury, of whose works any thing remains to us, was Justin
Martyr. In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,^ he men-
5 S. Bar. Epistola Cath. §. 4. Edit. Ox.
6 Opera, p. 463. It is quoted by Milner, Vol. I.
7 Wc (the Christians) have the gift of prophecy even now.— Op^ra,
p. 308. B. We pray for the Jews and for all others who hoslilcly oppose us;
11
tions, generally, the existence of miraculous powers in
the church, but brings no particular instances. This is,
assuredly, not the course ordinarily pursued by an eye-
witness ; the particulars of one miracle, wrought by a
person then living, would have had much more weight
with Trypho, than vaguely to assert the performance of a
hundred.
Theophilus of Antioch, his pupil, was not himself
possessed of thaumaturgic powers, though his language
regarding them resembles that of Justin. — He was chal-
lenged by a heathen philosopher to raise a man from the
dead, but declined the challenge.^
Irenaeus speaks of miracles, in his time, in a man-
ner similar to that of the preceding authors. — He merely
asserts that there then existed miraculous powers in the
church,® generally ; but certainly does not write as if he
himself had seen them.
Tertullian's expressions, regarding the supernatural
gifts imparted to his cotemporaries, are also very nearly
those of the writers to whom we have already referred He
that ye may repent with us, and not blaspheme Jesus Christ in whose name
so many mighty works are wrought even now. — lb. 254. B. Edit. Lut.
8 Ad Autol., lib. 1., 77. C.
9 Adv. Haer., lib. 2., c. 56. After discrediting the false miracles of
the Valentinians, he proceeds, " Tantum autem absunt ab eo ut mortuum
excitent quemadraodum Dominus excitavit, et Apostoli per orationem, et in
fraternitate saepissime propter aliquid necessarium, ed quce est in quoquo loco
ecclesia universd postulanti per jejunium et supplicationem multam, reversus
est spiritus mortui, et donatus est homo orationibus sanctorum, p. 1 86. — Edit.
Grabe. Further on, c. 57, p. 188, he speaks in the same manner of cast-
ing out devils, foretelling future events, and healing diseases ; he likewise
resumes the subject of raising the dead, and says, that the persons resusci-
tated had afterwards lived many years among them ; but this mode of speak-
ing quite excludes the idea that any such were then living, and therefore
throws the time when the miracles were wrought considerably backward.
12
asserts, in vague general terms, that they then existed,^^ but
only once ventures to relate an instance of their exercise :
than which it is hardly possible to conceive of an alleged
case of miracle with fewer rational claims to credibility.^^
Yet the tract in which it occurs was written after he had
embraced the tenets of Montanus ; and as that crazy en-
thusiast professed to work miracles, we cannot doubt that
his disciple would adduce the most striking example he
could find, in proof of the reality of these pretensions. It
is likewise well worthy of remark, that he derives the ma-
nuum imposition (a part of the ceremonial of baptism,) not
from the practice of our Lord and the apostles, with Ire-
naeus,^^ but from Jacob blessing the two sons of Joseph.^^
Is not this merely in order to avoid the acknowledgment,
that the imposition of hands was no longer accompanied
by miraculous gifts as in the times of the apostles "^^^
Clement of Alexandria certainly believed that mira-
cles had ceased in his time : after speaking of the Israelites
in the desert, he proceeds, " but we are of those Israelites
10 " Let one possessed of a devil be brought before your (the Hea-
then) tribunals ; and at the command of any Christian the spirit will confess
that he is a demon." — Apol. c. 23. " We (the Christians) bind the demons,
and expose them daily ; and cast them out of men, as is known to many
persons." — Ad Scap. c. 2.
U *' An example occurred of a woman who went to the theatre, and
returned from thence possessed of a devil : — and when the unclean spirit
was pressed by an exorcist to say why he had dared to enter into one of the
faithful ; ' I did right and most justly,' he replied, ' for I found her on my
own ground.' " — De Sped. c. 26.
12 U. 8. c. 67.
13 De Bapt. c. 8.
14 St. Austin does not attempt to evade the admission, but expressly
says, that the ceremony had ceased to confer miraculous powers. — Tr. 6 in.
1 Ep. Johan. For several equally striking evasions on the same point in
TertulUan's Works, sec Bishop Kaye's Eccl. Hist. c. 2. note 12.
13
whose faith and obedience cometh not by seeing miracles
but by hearing."^^
Exclusive of the ecclesiastical historians, whose au-
thority, in my opinion, is of far too doubtful a character
to be of any service to such an enquiry, this is the evi-
dence from which we are to form our judgment upon the
question : — It would seem that the following are the facts
deducible from it.
The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were enjoyed
but for a very short time by the church. Not more than
thirty years after the first propagation of Christianity, it
is probable that already were the churches of Rome and
Corinth deprived of them.
So rapid was their disappearance from the earth, that
they had become of very rare occurrence at the end of the
first century ; neither Ignatius nor Polycarp were endowed
with them, nor were they able to make any appeal to their
present existence in their writings.
Their departure was, nevertheless, not simultaneous
but gradual ; fifty and eighty years afterwards Justin Mar-
tyr and Irenaeus assert that they still existed ; though the
miracles to which the latter alludes had been performed
some time when he wrote.
The very equivocal and imperfect account given by
TertuUian of miracles then occurring, and the express
declaration of Clement of Alexandria that the Christian
dispensation was no longer a miraculous one, leave but
little room to doubt, that at the end of the second century
miracles had ceased altogether.
The passage in Clemens Romanus acquaints us with
another fact, regarding their departure. They were with-
drawn for the same reasons that grieve the Spirit to with-
in 2 Strom., c. 6.
14
hold his ordinary influences, — their misimprovement by
those upon whom they were conferred : and when once so
withdrawn they were never afterwards restored.
We hesitate not for a moment to assert, that these
facts would be true of the most excellent of all his gifts,
inspiration.
That a mortal and sinful man shall have the faculties
of his understanding, as well as the affections of his heart,
pervaded by the divine presence, being constituted thereby
the unerring historian of the past and the inspired prophet
of the future, — we confidently anticipate, that a grace so
transcendent should, of all others, exhibit the most exqui-
site sensibility of sin — should soonest shrink from its con-
tact with a world that lay in wickedness, and with a
church distracted by schisms, and return to the bosom of
God. — And such, in effect, was the case at all times, and
especially under the New Testament dispensation. The
purpose which called forth this immeasurable display of
the divine condescension, was speedily, as well as effectu-
ally, realised ; it had certainly departed, before the termi-
nation of the first century ; and to eight persons only, of
all those who attended upon our Lord's ministry, was this
grace given, — ^by them was the entire canon of this inesti-
mable book begun and completed.
These considerations will sufficiently obviate any dif-
ficulty we may imagine to arise, in deciding against the
inspiration of the apostolic men, on the ground that they
were cotemporary with the founders of Christianity.
But it has been a prevalent opinion with the Christian
church, that there are writings, by eminent men in reli-
gion, which, though not inspired to the same degree as the
canonical books, were, nevertheless, indited under such a
measure of the direction of the Holy Spirit as to be of
I
u
high authority. Let us endeavour to analyse this notion :
— there are certain books which the Spirit dictated in part,
but not altogether. But can the portions so dictated be
pointed out ? — If they can, to what are we indebted for
the remaining portions ? if to the writer alone, a fallible
and erring man, what assurance have we that he may not
be misleading us ? — If the inspired portions can not be
pointed out. How can we safely assent to the authority of
that of which we know not the origin ;— or believe in doc-
trines, concerning which we are ignorant, whether they are
propounded to us by the Spirit of God, or by the fancy
of the author in whose writings they occur ? It is need-
less to proceed with the argument. — The notion of semi-
inspiration, involves a manifest absurdity : it supposes that
the inspiring Spirit sanctions the introduction into the sa-
cred text of that which of all things will most effectually
defeat the object of the revelation. For the gift of inspi-
ration was granted in order that its receiver might be con-
stituted thereby the recorder of absolute, unmingled truth,
and that his writings might claim the unhesitating belief
of mankind, through all succeeding generations, on this
ground alone : — and how could this object be more entirely
frustrated, than by allowing the inspired truths to be in-
termixed with the unassisted reasonings, or imaginations,
of him to whom they were revealed ? It would be idle to
object here, that the writer might be kept from error by
the Spirit in these his mental efforts : — ^because that is
itself inspiration ; and all that is meant by it in one of the
ordinary acceptations of the word. — Assuredly, therefore,
there is no such thing as semi-inspiration : that unspeakable
grace was either imparted wholly, or it was altogether
withholden. And in every written production, wherein the
intellectual faculties of the writer have not been entirely
16
under the dictation and guidance of the Spirit, in the na-
ture of things it is impossible that he can have interfered
supernaturally at all. For these reasons we unhesitatingly
deny that the apostolical men could have received any as-
sistance from the Holy Spirit, in inditing their epistles,
short of plenary inspiration.
But we have already endeavoured to show, that the
early period at which they were written, is a circumstance
by no means involving the necessity, that therefore their
authors should be inspired : and when we further state, that
plenary inspiration has never been demanded for them,
and that they generally repudiate such an idea in their
own writings,^^ no further impediment remains in the way
of our conclusion, that the Epistles of the Apostolical
Fathers are uninspired productions ; and consequently,
that so far as supernatural assistance was concerned, the
obligation of the writers to defer to the authority of the
New Testament was exactly the same as our own.
16 Barnabas, c. 1. Ignat. ad Rom., c. 2, &c.
CHAPTER III.
TRADITION.
It remains for us to consider, whether the advantages
which the apostolic fathers derived from being cotempo-
rary with our Lord and the apostles, conferred upon them
the right to advance doctrines which are not sanctioned by
the New Testament writers, and the power of authentica-
ting such, independently of that sanction. It may be
proper to premise in this place, that we have not to con-
sider their title to credibility, as transcribers of acts and
discourses of Jesus Christ and his disciples, at which they
profess to have been present, but which are not to be
found in the New Testament; in no single instance do
their writings assume this character. We must also bear
in mind, that whatever advantages might accrue to them
from hence, they only had them in common with Simon
Magus, Cerinthus, Nicolaus, and others, who were, never-
theless, the originators of some of the foulest and most
fantastic heresies that ever disgraced Christianity. Assu-
redly, therefore, this is no infallible security against their
being in error.
But, notwithstanding, their proximity to the times of
inspiration appears to be an important circumstance in
their favour. They were possibly the hearers of our
Lord, certainly the pupils of his apostles; and their reli-
c
18
gious opinions seem to have been derived from the oral dis-
courses of these highly gifted persons, as well as from their
written epistles. There is evidence of this in their extant
productions, which referring not often to the New Tes-
tament, contain, nevertheless, a scheme of religion corre-
sponding, in its general outline, to that which is there
promulgated. But we find in them, besides, many doc-
trines and modes of interpretation for which there is no
such authority ; and the point at issue is, did they receive
these also from the apostles ?
Here, again, we fall in with the well-known and long
agitated question of Christian Tradition. We treat it as
arising from, and forming a part of, our present enquiry.
It is perfectly evident, that no one of the Apostolical
Epistles contains, in itself, so full an exposition upon
every point of Christian doctrine and ethics as may be
obtained from a digest of the entire volume of which it
forms a part ; but the apostles certainly declared the whole
counsel of God to all the churches they founded : in all
of them, therefore, a portion of the divine truth would be
known traditionally only, or from the oral instructions of
the apostles. Those of the apostolic churches to whom no
epistles were addressed, would remain, for a considerable
period, in the same situation as that in which the whole of
them were originally placed ; their knowledge of Christi-
anity would be derived entirely from this tradition. Never-
theless, the written word of God is a complete transcript
of the mind of God regarding man, — not one jot or tittle
of all that Jesus Christ and the apostles uttered, which it is
needful for us to know, is omitted in the New Testament :
had the Gospels of our Lord been multiplied, so that
the world itself could not contain the books that should
be written, John xxi. 25 ; had we an accurate and un-
19
doubted record of all that the apostles spake and wrote
from the first moment of their conversion to their final
ejaculation at their martyrdom, we should not thereby be
put into possession of one important truth or principle
in religion, with which we were not already perfectly ac-
quainted, through the books of the New Testament. We
utterly repudiate the notion of an oral law in Christianity ;
of the existence of certain traditions besides the written
word, which were committed by Christ to the apostles,
and by the apostles to the churches they planted and the
bishops they ordained, to remain thenceforward with .the
Church universal, as a leoo non scripta.
We refute this opinion, in the first place, by the
argument that demolishes an exactly similar figment,
raised by the Jews from the Old Testament. We can
find no allusion to any such, in the writings of those with
whom these traditions are said to have originated. The
passages ordinarily adduced in support of it,^ merely refer
to the fact we have already endeavoured to explain, that
the apostles gave verbal as well as epistolary instructions
to their converts. We, in the second place, reject it,
on the ground of its great improbability. — Is it to be
believed, that after our Saviour had so severely rebuked
the traditions of the Jews,^ and called them back to the
simplicity of the written word, he would, nevertheless,
cast a portion of that truth, which he came from heaven
to reveal, into the same polluted channel, and thus give
his adversaries the power of unanswerably condemning
him out of his o^^^l mouth ? — the supposition is intoler-
able.
We are supported, in the present instance, by the
1 1 Cor. xi. 2. 2 Thess. ii. 15, &c.
2 Matt. XV. 1, 20. Mark vii. 1, 23.
authority of those ancient writers, whose opinions, upon
some other points, we shall be compelled to call in ques-
tion.
It has been already noticed, that the Epistles of Cle-
ment and Barnabas were probably written before the canon
of the New Testament was completed, and consequently,
that their views of Christianity were derived, in a measure,
from the oral instructions of the apostles. Yet, it is
remarkable, that they never claim any authority for these
instructions : their authoritative appeals are invariably to
the Scriptures, generally of the Old Testament : they plead
no other justification either of their doctrinal or ethical
opinions.
This negative testimony of the apostolical fathers
against the existence of traditional doctrines in Christi-
anity, we are able to corroborate by the more direct evi-
dence of the fathers of the second century.
Irenaeus discusses this subject in the first five chapters
of his Third Book adversus Hcereses. He expressly
denies their existence against the heretic Valentinus and
others who asserted it.^ He appeals, it is true, to the oral
instructions of the apostles, which he informs us were, in
his time, well known throughout the world ;"* but only for
the purpose of pointing out the entire accordance between
them and their written epistles. He places this in a strong
light, by supposing the case, that they had left no inspired
writings behind them, when this tradition would have been
our only guide. This case had actually occurred with
certain nations of barbarians, among whom the apostles
3 " Etenim si recondita mysteria scissent Apostoli, qua; seorsim ct
latenter ab rcliquis perfectos docebant, his vel maxime traderent ea quibus
etiam ipsas ecclesias committebant.'*— C 3.
^ " Traditionem apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatam.**— /rf.
21
had preached the faith and planted churches, while they
were ignorant of written characters ; and they remained in
the same state to his time, diligently observing this tradi-
tion, which agreed, in every particular, with the doctrine
of those churches that were in possession of the inspired
Volume.^
In the writings of Tertullian we find the views of
Irenaeus on this subject abundantly confirmed. He reite-
rates his denial of the existence of oral doctrines in Chris-
tianity, which had been asserted by Valentinus and other
heretics, rejects the idea as madness, and declares that
it casts a reproach upon Christ, as great, at least, as the
more impudent fabrication that the apostles did not teach
certain truths, because they were ignorant of them.^ " For
the one," he says, " accuses him of sending forth ignorant
apostles, the other dishonest ones." He also refers more
than once to the existing Christian tradition, in order to
point out its entire accordance with the New Testament
Scriptures.^
Clement of Alexandria was infected with the error
which is reproved by the two preceding writers, and
sought in tradition for a sanction of the heathen absurdity
of a double doctrine in Christianity, which he could not
find in the written word.^ We can hardly, therefore, con-
5 C. 4.
6 " Solent dicere : non omnia apostolos scisse ; eadem agitati dementia
qua nirsus convertunt : omnia apostolos scisse sed non omnia omnibus tradi-
disse. In utroque Christum reprehensioni injicientes, qui aut minus instruc-
tos aut parum simplices apostolos miserit." — De Press. Hcer.^ c. 22. p. 20.
7 Idem 32—37 — Adv. Mar., lib. 1. c. 21.
8 He thus describes it in his great work, the Stromates, which pro-
fesses to be an exposition of the second or mystical doctrines of Christianity,
as his Paedagogus is, of the primary and simple truths for the uninitiated. —
" This work is not a mere treatise composed according to technical rules for
the sake of show ; for in me arc treasured^p, even to old age, memorials
ceive of a better proof of the rule we are endeavouring to
lay down, than the present exception.
As, then, we deny the existence of traditional doc-
trines in Christianity, both from the improbability of such
a notion and upon the evidence of those persons who, occu-
pying distinguished places in the Christian church at the
times nearest to those of the apostles, must have been their
depositories had they existed, we, of course, deny all au-
thority, on this ground, to the writings of the apostolical
fathers.
Greatly admiring, therefore, the little that we know
concerning the characters of these eminent and holy per-
sons, and fervently thanking the God of all grace for that
he enabled them, in times of unexampled peril and of
super-abounding error, to hold fast, in all its great fea-
tures, the faith once delivered to the saints ; and at length
to lead forth, as we believe, that noble army of martyrs,
which are a specific against oblivion : for I possess the very image and
adumbration of the discourses, at once easy of comprehension and spiritual,
which I was counted worthy to hear, and of the blessed and excellent men
who uttered them." He then proceeds to describe the various teachers of
the new Platonics to whom he had listened ; and lastly, mentions one whom
he found concealed in Egypt and with whom he remained ; — probably Pan-
taenus, whom he succeeded as principal of the school at Alexandria. Him
he describes as a " truly Sicilian bee, hovering over the flowers that grow in
the prophetical and apostolical meadows, and distilling the virgin honey of
the doctrines he had drawn from thence into the souls of his hearers." —
" But all these kept the true tradition of that blessed doctrine which they
had received immediately from the holy apostles, Peter, and James, and
John, and Paul, as a son from a father ; and though few be like their
fathers, yet, by the help of God, these apostolical seeds, sown in our
fathers, have come down to us. I well know that many will rejoice in this
my book, because this tradition is preserved in it." — 1 Strom. § 1. In ex-
actly the same spirit he speaks a little further on, of "■ the glorious and
venerable canon of tradition which was established before the foundation of
the world."— /(/. p. 20. See also Peed. 1, 5. 7 Strom. § 6, &c.
23
r
m who, overcoming the confederate powers of darkness by
W the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony,
loved not their lives unto the death, we, nevertheless apply
to their writings the precept of Tertullian,^ and their own
example ; we enquire and search diligently whether the
I apostolic men write according to the mind of the apostles ;
and we say of them as of every other unassisted writing,
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not accord-
ing to this word^ it is because (on the point whereon they
differ,) there is no light in them}^
9 De Presc. Haeret. c. 32. lo Isa. viii. 20.
CHAPTER IV.
OPINIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS UPON INSPIRATION.
That the works of the apostolical fathers were held in
very high estimation by the ancient church, is a fact too
notorious to require that it should be here formally estab-
lished by an array of quotations :^ and they certainly were
in some measure entitled to it, both on account of the de-
served reputation for sanctity of their authors, and with
some of them, on the score of literary merit also. But it
is much to be regretted, that the limits between these and
inspiration were but little sought into or understood in
those days. They do not seem to have considered, that
whatever be the excellence of a merely human production,
or of its author, between these and the words of him who
is under the inspiring influence of the Holy Ghost there is
an immeasurable distance, when viewed in the light of a
religious authority : — ^for the one is the truth of God, that
shall stand for ever ; the other is valuable only in propor-
tion to its close and faithful adherence to the tenets of that
word, and whatever it contains which is not to be found
there, either mediately or immediately, is necessarily false.
1 The Preliminary Discourse to Archbishop Wake's admirable transla-
tion of their Works leaves nothing to be desired upon this point, which it
ably and amply treats upon.
r
25
It is, to us, hardly credible, that this broad and most
obvious distinction should have been lost sight of in the
Christian church at any time, and especially at one so
close upon its first establishment in the earth as the first
and second centuries. Such was the fact, nevertheless ;
they had but an imperfect idea of the tests by which all
claims to inspiration ought to be tried, and were far too
ready to admit them, by whomsoever they were advanced.
One immediate consequence was, that even good men ex-
tended the same lax rule of judgment to their own mental
emotions, and thus mistook them for the impulses of inspi-
ration. Passages are not wanting in the writings of the
early fathers which prove the existence of this mistake.
St. Barnabas concludes his well-known comment upon the
ceremonial law, thus, " But how should we know all this
and understand it ? We, understanding aright the com-
mandment, speak as the Lord would have us. Wherefore,
he has circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we might
know these things.*"^ This bold avowal of inspiration is
made in favour of a tissue of obscenity and absurdity which
would disgrace the Hindoo Mythology ; though, in the
same epistle, the writer entirely disclaims it for the very
pious and scriptural train of reasoning with which he com-
mences.^
Ignatius makes a similar general disclaimer of inspi-
ration.'^ He experienced no necessity for it so long as his
sentiments were in accordance with the teaching of the
apostles ; but when he inculcates his wild, extravagant no-
tions of subjection to the Christian hierarchy, he becomes
inspired. — " Some would have deceived me according to
the flesh ; but the Spirit being from God is not deceived. —
I cried while I was among you, I spake with a loud voice,
2 C. 10. 3 C. 1. a. f. 4 Rom. c. 4.
m
attend to the bishop, and to the presbytery, and to the
deacons. Now some supposed that I spake as foreseeing
the division that should come among you ; but he is my
witness for whose sake I am in bonds, that I knew nothing
from any man ; but the Spirit spake, saying on this wise,
do nothing without the Bishop^^
The mental process by which these good men were
deluded is not very difficult to analyse ; both were evi-
dently conscious that the doctrines they advanced did not
rest upon a very firm basis of scriptural authority : but
they nevertheless entertained towards them that kindly
parental prepossession against which every one who com-
mits his thoughts to writing ought to be upon his guard ;
they were elated with the idea of having struck out some-
thing clever and original, and this emotion they mistook
for the inspiring influences of the Holy Ghost.
It can never be out of place to point out the links of
that mysterious chain of providences, along which the
Scriptures have been transmitted to us, pure and unadul-
terated; and here, I conceive, is a very remarkable one.
Had Barnabas and Ignatius avowedly written throughout
under the same delusion, there would have been, a priori^
no argument whatever against the probability of their be-
ing inspired, and then the only point upon which we could
have fairly contended against their admission into the
canon, would have afi'ected their authenticity. But as the
case now stands, we have no difficulty in dealing with it ;
when they write scripturally they declare that they are not
inspired, while they claim inspiration for that which is so
utterly at variance with all conceivable rules of scriptural
interpretation and with the whole tenor of the Sacred
Volume, that it condemns itself.
5 Phil. c. 7.
87
One other instance of this self-deception will show
that the same undefined notions on inspiration prevailed,
at the end, as at the beginning of the second century.
We have already mentioned the Stromates of Clement of
Alexandria ; and we shall have frequent occasion to refer
to the errors with which this voluminous work abounds.
The author thus describes its plan and character. ^' The
books of the Stromates are not like to those trimmed
gardens, wherein trees and plants are arranged in a certain
order to delight the eye ; but rather to a mountain covered
with tangled thickets, where the cypress and the plane,
the laurel and the ivy, apples, olives, and figs are so
twisted together that it is difficult to separate the produc-
tive from the worthless."^ It is not possible to form a
juster or more exact notion of his strange and rambling
miscellany than the author conveys in this passage. It is,
indeed, a tangled thicket of prickly and worthless bushes,
with here and there a plant from Scripture, withering for
want of depth of earth and choked with weeds and rub-
bish. And yet in the middle of the work we are informed,
that the writer, having recorded the first part of the Gnos-
tical tradition in what writings " the Spirit pleased^'' will
now proceed to the completion of his undertaking, '' if
God will and as he shall inspire.'''''^ A plain declaration
that the whole of the Stromates were dictated by God the
Holy Ghost ! That a man of good natural abilities, of
strong and highly cultivated reasoning powers, and of
astonishing learning, (and all this was true of Clement
of Alexandria,) should, nevertheless, have been the dupe of
so palpable a delusion, can only have arisen out of the
loose and vague conceptions of the nature of inspiration
which were entertained by the Church in those times.
6 7 Strom. § 18, a. f. 7 4 Strom. § I.
28
Another and a still more melancholy consequence of
this undecided state of so important a question, remains
to be considered.
If there is any virtue which of all others the revela-
tions of God most jealously vindicate to themselves, it is
truth. As this was the case with both the earlier forms
of the divine dispensation, so, in a still more emphatic
and peculiar manner, is it characteristic of that more per-
fect revelation which, in these last days, hath been vouch-
safed unto us. Not only are we informed, that truth
came into the world by its divine founder, and that he
is full of truths but he assumes to himself the truth,
truth in the abstract, as one of his peculiar and distinc-
tive titles. Truth, is the one quality upon which Chris-
tianity rests its entire claim to be regarded : it never urges
the authority of its precepts upon the conscience, without,
at the same time, presenting the evidences of its authen-
ticity to the understanding. Totally different from the
Paganism over which it so soon triumphed, and which,
devoid of any rational ground of credence whatever, re-
tained its votaries by the beauty and magnificence of its
external ceremonial and by its servile ministration to
their baser passions, the new religion rejected ornament
as well as every other external aid, denounced, in terms
the most sweeping and unequivocal, the vengeance of
eternal fire against the soul that sinned after whatsoever
manner, and called upon all men to believe its testimony
because it was true. At the same time, it constantly
invited, yea, courted, the investigation of these preten-
sions ; the whole apparatus whereby its first propagation
was accomplished, being adjusted with an especial view
to affording the greatest jx)ssible facility to such enquiries.
The apostles were sent forth to teach all nations, because
they had been themselves the witnesses of those things
that established the divine origin of their doctrine. And
in the spirit of their mission they constantly raise the ques-
tion of the truth of Christianity by an appeal to its exter-
nal evidences, to " that which they had seen, and heard,
and their hands had handled.'*''^ It was their boast that
these things were " not done in a corner,'''^ but before all
men, so that thousands then living, besides themselves,
could bear testimony to the truth of them : while, under
the impulse of the same feeling, the inspired historian of
their labours highly commends certain converts, who en-
quired more diligently than the rest, into the truth of those
things which were spoken by them.^^ Christianity thus
exemplifying this glorious attribute of its divine founder,
even in its mode of annunciation, we are not surprised to
find that its precepts more energetically enforce, and more
fearfully sanction, its observance, than that of any other
virtue. With a perfect unity of design, which we shall
always have to admire under whatever aspect we regard its
economy, this divine revelation, professing to be the word
of truth, proceeding from the God of truth, and inspired
by the Spirit of truth, assigns also to truth, a place of
exactly corresponding prominence in its ethical system.
Truth, is the mother element of all Christian morality.
For, as on the one hand, it enjoins no virtue of which truth
is not an essential ingredient ; so, on the other, there is no
vice against which it denounces such an emphasis of dam-
nation as falsehood. In a word, truth is the characteristic
of the real disciple of Christ ; it is the badge of his pro-
fession.
Keeping these considerations in mind, our astonish-
8 1 John i. 1. 9 See Acts ii. 22. xxvi. 26.
10 Acts xvii. 11.
ment and indignation are justly excited when we discover,
that the most striking feature of the literature of Chris-
tianity in the first century, and the early part of the
second, was falsehood ; and falsehood in the gross, into-
lerable forms of forgery and interpolation. The number
of spurious gospels relating false facts, of spurious epis-
tles propounding false doctrines, and of spurious reve-
lations describing invented or imaginary visions, which
appeared within that period is really appalling. Not
fewer than eighty of such are referred to, by name, in the
writings of the fathers of the first four centuries ; — and
these all forgeries relative to Christ and his apostles : be-
sides which, we have a mob of apocryphal fabrications in
the names of the ancient prophets, patriarchs, sibyls, &c.,
which were either produced at that time, or were probably
then largely interpolated. It had been well, if these dis-
honest meddlings with existing books had stopped here. —
But in the fathers of the second century there are constant
complaints, that even the inspired writings were by no
means safe from the mutilations and interpolations of the
heretics; though such were easily detected by a reference
to the authenticce litter cb, the autograph copies,^ ^ which
were religiously preserved by the primitive church. To
the heretics also were ascribed the invention of many of
the spurious books we have just mentioned, and such was
undoubtedly the fact : — ^nevertheless, that a very large
proportion of them were fabricated by persons untainted
with heretical opinions, we have (besides the testimony of
cotemporary writers) the direct evidence of the books
themselves. In not many of those that are still extant
u See Tertullian, de Frees, lleer. c. 30. See also Bishop Kaye^s Eccl.
Hist., c. 5, p. 307. e. s.
I
I
31
can any thing be detected which would have been ac-
counted heterodox in the second century.^^
Strange and unaccountable as all this may appear,
the light in which the apocryphal books were regarded,
at the time of their publication, is still more so. Nearly
all the fathers quote from them largely, in confirmation of
their own statements and opinions. Tertullian attempts to
defend the authenticity of one of them in an argument
which is absurd, almost to madness ;^^ but such an attempt
was quite unnecessary, for even the circumstance that the
books were forgeries by the acknowledgment of their au-
thors does not seem to have in any degree impaired their
authority.^"*
Such a state of opinion sufficiently shows the preva-
lence of very gross misapprehensions on the subject of inspi-
ration. We proceed to notice some other passages from
the fathers of the second century, which further illustrate
their sentiments upon it.
12 It is surprising that the enormity of forging the name of an inspired
person to a spurious book, or, in other words, of lying in the name of the
Holy Ghost, should ever have found an apologist. One would imagine that
such a sin would go before its perpetrator to judgment ; — ^that of its un-
speakably heinous nature there could not be a moment's question. Notwith-
standing, a divine of the present day, who has edited three apocryphal books
in a manner that reflects infinite credit upon his ability and learning, has
assumed, in speaking of such productions, a tone of palliation at which I
cannot find words to express my astonishment.
13 De Hab. Mul. c. 3.
14 The book entitled " the Acts of Paul and Thecla," which is still
extant, and of which, as Tertullian informs us (de Bapt. c. 17,^ an Asiatic
presbyter avowed himself to have been the fabricator " out of love to St.
Paul," is quoted, nevertheless, with great respect by Cyprian, who called
Tertullian his master, and boasted that he read a portion of his works daily;
by Gregory Nazianzen, by Chrysostom, in a word, by a greater number of
subsequent fathers than any other production of the same class.
32
Irenaeus,*^ Tertullian,^^ and Clement of Alexandria^^
were of opinion, tliat the whole of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures had been lost during the second captivity, and that
after the return from Babylon they were again communi-
cated to Ezra by re-inspiration}^ The last-named father
entertained the same opinion regarding the Septuagint
translation of the Old Testament ; he held it to be an in-
spired version.^^
He also assigns a measure of inspiration to the Greek
poets. He grounds this opinion upon the quotations from
Euripides and some others of them, that occur in the
New Testament.^''
15 u. s. lib. 3. c. 25.
16 De Hab. Mul. c. 3.
17 1 Strom. § 22.
18 I am persuaded that a large allowance must be made, in this and sim-
ilar cases, for the cramped and enfeebled state of the reasoning faculties in
these eminent men, arising from the total absence of subjects favourable to
their development, in the course of study which was then in use. The natu-
ral abilities of all of them were of a superior order. The style of Irenaeus
is remarkable for neat and precise arrangement — a rare accomplishment in
those days : of Tertullian I hesitate not to affirm, that for the fervent
eloquence of his thoughts, though not of his language, for the dexterity with
which he pursues the subtle sophistries of the heretics through their most
intricate windings, and always to draw them forth to a triumphant expo-
sure, and above all, for the stinging pungency of his sarcasms, it will not
be easy to find his equal in any age : the talents and learning of Clement
are also universally and deservedly acknowledged. But, notwithstanding, the
constant recurrence of similar follies, throughout their works, bears me out in
concluding, that the, to us, most palpable and mad absurdity of the notion
of re-inspiration was altogether out of the range of their mental perceptions.
The right use and application of our reasoning faculties is a gift which the
long predominance of Christianity has imparted to us, of which we are all
too proud, and for which we are none of us sufficiently thankful.
19 U. S.
2f» 1 Strom. § 14.
The quotation from the book of Enoch in St. Index's
Epistle seems to have decided the early church in favour
of its inspiration ; it is frequently referred to by Tertullian
and Clement.
Justin Martyr,^^ and his pupil Athenagoras,^ both
believed that the Greek philosophers had a certain mea-
sure of inspiration, whereby they were enabled to arrive at
those parts of their systems which are in accordance with
the Scriptures.
Clement of Alexandria enlarges and improves upon
this notion : he declares the divine origin of the Eclectic
philosophy, " a system composed of all that is well said
and according to righteousness by all the Greek philoso-
phers.'" " This," he says, " they received from the fertili-
zing influences of the Logos or Divine Wisdom, which
descended at the same time upon the Jews, giving them
the law and the prophets, and upon the Gentiles, giving
them philosophy ; like the rain which falls upon the house-
tops as well as the fields.""^^ In another part of his work
he argues thus : " All virtuous thoughts are imparted by
divine inspiration ; and that cannot be evil, or of evil
origin, which tends to produce good : the Greek philoso-
phy has this virtuous tendency ; therefore, the Greek phi-
losophy is good. Now God is the author of all good ;
but the Greek philosophy is good ; therefore, the Greek
philosophy is from God. It follows, that the law was
given to the Jews and philosophy to the Greeks, until the
advent of our Lord.'"^'* Elsewhere, he terms philosophy
21 Apologia I., p. 83. D.
22 Legatio, ^. D.
23 1 Strom, § 7' So in another place v <piXoiro(pta B^na ^uptx H>.X»j<r/»
^i^ofiivn — Id. § 2.
24 C Strom. § 17'i where see more to the same purpose.
34
" a peculiar testament, oixsiav 8ia-&>)x>]v, imparted to the
Greeks, which served them as a stepping-stone to Chris-
tianity C""^^ he also ascribes to it the power of " purifying
and preparing the soul for the reception of the Christian
faith.''26
The notions regarding inspiration entertained by the
early church being now before us, we are not at all sur-
prised to find that the apostolical fathers are frequently
quoted, as scriptural authorities, by those of the succeed-
ing century : — since in doing so, they only assign to them
the station to which they had already exalted a mere ver-
sion of the Old Testament, the most palpable forgeries,
and even, the writings of professed idolaters ! We
triumphantly conclude that, however eminent the fathers
of this epoch may have been for piety and learning, their
opinions upon a point whereon they so grievously err are,
as an independent testimony, utterly valueless, and by
no means to be regarded, except when supported by that
irresistible weight of collateral evidence which establishes
the authenticity of the canonical books.
It remains that we endeavour to account for these
strange hallucinations of the early Christians.
Inspiration, like the other miraculous gifts of the
Spirit, was gradually and imperceptibly, though rapidly,
withdrawn from the Church: — and, as might have been
anticipated, she continued to covet earnestly this best gift
long after the period of its final departure. The writings
we are considering abound with unequivocal proofs of the
prevalence of this desire with their authors ; and it is
needless to remark, that in no conceivable state of mind,
would they be so liable to the delusions and mistakes into
which they were betrayed upon this subject.
26 6 Strom. § 8. 26 7 strom. § 4.
35
Nor have we seen as yet the extent of the mis-
chief. According to tradition St. Hermas was a Cliris-
tian minister whose holy and useful life highly adorned
the religion he professed. Nevertheless, his entire work,
the Shepherd, is written under this delusion ; and is,
moreover, the silliest book that ever exercised an influence
over the human understanding.
I think it possible that some of the apocryphal wri-
ters may have been deceived in the same manner. — Like
Hermas, they were agape for inspiration, and therefore
easily imposed upon themselves.
The same passion also originated the desire to be
tvise above what is written, which characterises the wri-
tings of this period. — It was under the influence of this
longing after further revelation, that TertuUian supported
the pretensions of Montanus to be the paraclete promised
by our Saviour ; declared that the preceptive part of the
Gospel was imperfect, and required alteration, correction,
and addition ;^^ and countenanced, like his cotemporary
Clement of Alexandria, the fanciful notion of two doc-
trines in Christianity ; the one obvious and deducible from
the simple meaning of the inspired text, the other occult
and only to be acquired by the initiated.^ The same un-
hallowed and inordinate desire betrayed Clement also, into
the aberrations we have already noticed.
We can readily imagine that a period of the Church
thus distinguished by a feverish thirst for hidden know-
ledge, would also be eminently favourable to the success of
forged books professing to be inspired, and greatly encou-
rage their appearance. Men were prepossessed on behalf
27 Cetera clisciplinae et conversationis admittunt novitatem correctionis;
operante scilicet et proficiente gratia Dei. — De Virg. Vel.y c. 1.
28 De Pallio, c. 3., de Idol. c. 5.
36
of their claims, and thereby unfitted for accurately exam-
ining and judging of them.^
The consequence of such a state of things was inevi-
table. The views of Christian doctrine entertained by
the early fathers are not the transcripts of that which,
having the eyes of their understandings enlightened,^
they discerned in the word of God by the light which
itself diffuses, but of that which they discovered there,
through the discoloured and distorting medium of a vast
mass of apocryphal and uninspired productions. And
though all this was speedily overruled to the final purifica-
tion and establishment of the canon, a process which had
commenced even in Tertullian'*s time,^^ yet it is deeply to
be regretted that no care whatever was taken to recon-
struct the doctrine of the church according to the views
of the Christian religion that were then held to be the
only inspired ones ; but the old errors remained in her
traditional creed for many succeeding ages : and in their
progress down the stream of time, the worst parts of them
were grievously exaggerated.
Our purpose is, carefully to compare the doctrines
advanced by these early writers with those we find in Holy
Scripture ; and thus to discover, if possible, the first germ
of that accursed plant which so soon engrafted itself upon
the true vine that God had planted in the earth : and which,
absorbing the sap and nutriment of its parent stem, spread
its boughs unto the sea and its branches unto the river,
until the whole of Christendom languished in the shadow
of death that brooded beneath it, and all who professed
the Christian name fed on the ashes which its deceitful and
bitter fruit afforded them.
29 1 John Iv. 1. 30 Eph. i. 16. 31 De Pudicitia, c. 10.
CHAPTER V.
ANGELS.
The opinions of the early Christian fathers upon the
nature of angels, are so interwoven with their notions
upon other doctrinal points, that with them we may very
conveniently commence our examination. This is a re-
vealed truth, regarding which it was the evident intention
of the Spirit of inspiration, that nothing should be disclo-
sed beyond the fact of its existence. Their name, both
in Hebrew and Greek, imports the office in which they are
ordinarily found engaged in the sacred history, but gives
no definition of their nature.* It is also remarkable, that
nothing concerning them exclusively, is ever made the
subject of revelation ; they are only mentioned casually,
in the accounts of transactions accomplished through their
agency.
The following would seem to be all that we really
know of this mysterious subject. The angels are created
beings,^ who came into existence before the foundation of
the world .^ Their essence is different both from the divine
and human natures ;* it is immortal, that to which we shall
in a future state be assimilated,^ and spiritual.^
1 Angelus officii non naturae vocabula — Terl. de Carni Christ*., c. 14.
2 Nehem. ix. 6. Col. i. 16. 3 Job xxxviii. 4—7. * Heb. ii. 16.
•'' Luke XX. 26. ^ Psa. civ. 4.
38
As it respects their powers and faculties, they excel
in strength,^ they can assume the external appearance ^
and perform the functions of human beings,^ and were
generally invested with a splendour or brightness, which
distinguished their presence from that of a mere man.^^
Under this form they have the power of working miracles :^^
they can appear and disappear at pleasure, sometimes to
all present, at other times only to a part ;^^ the mode of
disappearance being, on one occasion, by ascent into the
air.^^ Of this power of gliding or flying through the air,
we find them to be possessed from other passages. ^^ They
are likewise endowed with the still more incomprehensible
faculty of impressing the signs of their presence upon the
mental apprehensions of men, without the interposition of
the external senses : thereby making known their messages
in dreams.^^
Of their hierarchies and orders our knowledge is very
limited. The celestial beings who guarded the approaches
to Paradise after the falP^ and whose sculptured images
overshadowed the mercy-seat,^^ are not angels. These
representations, fashioned after the pattern which was
shown to Moses in the mount,^^ agree in so many par-
ticulars with IsaiaVs vision in the temple,^^ with that
which appeared to Ezekiel by the river Chebar,^^ and
which St. John beheld in the island of Patmos,^^ that we
cannot doubt but the same scene and the same beings were
7 Psa. ciii. 20. » Judges xiii. 6. 1 Sam. xxix. 9.
9 Gen. xvii. 8. xix. 1—11, &c. lO Matt, xxviii. 3.
11 Gen. xix. 11. Judges vi. 21. Acts xii. 7'
12 Gen. xxii. 23, &c., Dan. x. 7- '^ Judges xiii. 20.
14 Dan. ix. 21. Rev. viii. 13. xiv. C. 15 Matt. ii. 13, 20, &c.
16 Gen. ill. 24. 17 Exod. xxv. 18—22. 18 Exod. v. 40.
19 Isa. vi. 1, 2. 20 Ezek. i. 3—21. 21 Rev. iv. 6—8.
39
revealed to all of them. But they are termed cherubs,
seraphs, living creatures, — never angels.
However, that some subordination obtains among the
beings who partake of the angelic nature, is frequently
hinted at in the Holy Scriptures,^ and is moreover in strict
analogy with the arrangement of every other part of God's
creation.
One particular concerning it may be deduced from
several passages. We read in the visions of Daniel of an
exalted being named Michael, who is one of the chief
princes ;^^ and the epistle of St. Jude informs us, that he
is an archangel. In the same visions, the name of another
celestial personage, Gabriel, is mentioned i^"^ he is also
called the man GahrielP He was afterwards seen by
Zacharias in the temple, when he declared his office to be
" that he stood in the presence of God :"^ and he again
appears in the inspired account of the annunciation, where
he is expressly named, the angel Gabriel.^ Now as we can
conceive of no higher office than that of standing in the
presence of God, and of no higher honour than that of
announcing the incarnation of God, we, without hesitation,
assign to him the most elevated rank in the angelic
hierarchy. But we have seen that Michael the archangel
is likewise one of the chief princes, and we find in the
New Testament that he leads forth the hosts of heaven to
battle :^ he is moreover an angel of the presence ; for he
is the angel of Israel,^ who is declared to be of the pre-
sence also.^^ We cannot, therefore, err in assigning a post
of equal elevation to him. The apostle St. John informs us
in the Revelations,^^ that seven angels stand before God.
22 1 Cor. XV. 39—41. Rom. viii. 38. Eph. i. 31, &c., &c.
25 Dan. X. 16. 24 Dan. vui. 16. 25 Dan. ix. 21. 26 Luke i. 19.
27 Vcr. 26. 28 Rev. xii. 7- 29 Dan. xii. 1.
30 Isa. Ixiii. 9. 31 Rev. viii. 2.
40
Nothing more is disclosed to us, either regarding the
archangels, or generally, upon the subject of the subordi-
nations of rank which obtain in the angelic host.
We proceed to the offices which Holy Scripture assigns
to the angels, of which it informs us there is "an innume-
rable company .'"^2 Their office in heaven is to surround
the throne and to sing the praises of God, but that
they are continually dispatched from thence on messages
of mercy or of wrath to mankind, and to wield the powers
of nature in conformity to the divine will, is plainly
revealed, and too well known, to require that we should
here dwell upon it. Of the mode of discharging these
several functions, enough is disclosed to enable us to dis-
cover therein, the same system of harmony and adaptation
that characterises the entire government of the Lord of
heaven and earth. The fulfilment of the destinies of the
several nations of the world, and their protection seems,
in a mode to us incomprehensible, (because not revealed)
to be assigned to particular angels or hosts of angels.
Thus Michael is called by Daniel, the prince that standeth
up for or protects the children of Israel ;^ in the same
prophecy we are informed that he strove for twenty-
one days with the prince of Persia ; the prince of Javan
is also mentioned ; all these expressions we can only
understand of the tutelary angels of those countries.** In
the Apocalypse also we read of the angel of the waters
— that is, of the figurative waters; the people thereby
symbolized.^
32 Heb. xii. 22.; see also Dan. vii. 10. Psa. Ixviii. 17. Matt,
xxvi. 63.
33 Dan. xii. 1.
34 Dan. X. 10—21.
35 Rev. xvi. 5. ; or it may be, of the element of water : for we read,
Rev. xiv. 18., of the angel that had power over fire.
I
41
We are also borne out by Scripture in concluding
that the offices of the angelic hosts are still further sub-
ordinated. — We are informed of the existence of guar-
dian angels, the appointed protectors of individuals ;^ to
minister to their religious advancement f^ to deliver them
from evil ;^ and finally to bear their spirits to the pre-
sence of God.^
Hitherto we have endeavoured to collect the Scripture
account of those angels that, fulfilling the purpose of their
existence, remain the willing and faithful ministers of their
great Creator. But from the same unerring authority we
find that there are, besides these, other angels who kept
not their first estate, hut left their own habitation ;^^ we
only know further concerning this event, that it took
place before the fall of man.
These angels having powers and faculties like the
angels of God, employ them with the same energy in
the promotion of physical and moral evil, as the good
angels address theirs to the accomplishment of the bene-
ficent and holy purposes of their God and King. They
are, in a future state, to be the companions of the finally
impenitent among mankind ; with them they are to pass
an eternity of torment in the place of fire, which the
wrath of God has prepared for them. We learn from
many passages that the number of these evil angels is
very great, and that they obey one ruler or king over
them, whose most ordinary Scripture names are Satan
or Diabolus and Beelzebub ; the one merely describing
36 Matt, xviii. 10. Acts xii. 15.
37 Heb. i. 14.
38 Gen. xlviii. 16. Psa. xxxiv. 7. xci. 11. Dan. vi. 22. Acts v. 19., &c.
39 Luke xvi. 10.
40 Jude 6.
his office, that of an accuser or enemy, the other being
the name of a fabulous deity, under the form of which
he was worshipped by the heathen nations bordering upon
Palestine.
This being was the author of the fall of man in Para-
dise ; which he compassed, either by assuming the form of
a serpent, or by embodying himself in that reptile, so as
to make it an accomplice in the guilt and a participant in
the punishment.'^^
We also find that, during the patriarchal and Mosaic
dispensations, Satan and his angels were allowed to appear
before God ; that they constantly took advantage of this
to remind him (if such an expression may be permitted)
of the failings and sins of his people on earth : and that
they likewise undertook offices congenial to their malignant
nature, by the divine permission/^ But the apostle St.
John informs us that there was war in heaven ; Michael
and his angels fought with Satan and his angels, and
finally and for ever cast them out, " neither was their place
found any more in heaven."^
By collating the account of this event with some other
passages, we may form a conjecture as to the time of
its occurrence. The prophet declares that immediately
upon this defeat, Satan or the dragon persecuted the man
child, or Jesus Christ, upon earth.^ Now our Saviour,
immediately after his baptism, was tempted of Satan
in the wilderness : the inspired accounts of his subse-
quent ministry also inform us, that his miraculous powers
were almost incessantly exerted in expelling the evil
spirits from Demoniacs ; though in them, we hear of the
complaint itself, nearly for the first time ; and he expressly
41 Gen. iii. 42 Job i. C— 12. 1 Kings xxii. 19—22., &c.
43 Rev. xii. 7—9. ** Ver. 13.
43
tells his disciples, on the occasion of their discovering that
they also possessed the power to exorcise demons, " I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven."^^ These circum-
stances render it not improbable, that the defeat of the
evil being and his expulsion from heaven, by Michael
the archangel, took place somewhere about the time of our
Lord's baptism.
It will be observed that in this our epitome of the
Scripture doctrine of angels, we have endeavoured that the
writers whose opinions we are about to examine should have
all the advantage which could possibly be derived to them
from the inspired volume. It is on this account that we
have ventured to the utmost bounds of what can justly be
inferred from thence, and given them the benefit of some
obscure and controverted places, of which interpreta-
tions widely different have been proposed by divines of
deserved celebrity : though in doing so, it has been our
earnest wish to avoid any thing like unfair or dishonest
violence to the import of the text.
It would also appear that, though the Scriptures afford
us much information regarding the angelic existences, yet
on no single point, have we enough to impress the mind
with a definite notion. Of their nature, their powers, their
orders, their history, we know nothing beyond a few facts,
which are merely isolated points on the canvass ; it is hope-
lessly beyond our powers to trace even the connecting out-
line, much more to finish the picture. And if our faith in
the Christian revelation be but as a grain of mustard-seed,
our unhallowed aspirations after a more distinct acquaint-
ance with these mysterious subjects will instantly be re-
pressed by the reflection, that soon, very soon, we shall
45 Luke X. 18.
I
enter upon a state of existence, wherein our knowledge of
them shall be commensurate with our most enlarged desires.
We shall know even as also we are known.
Considerations like these, however, have but too little
weight with mankind at any time, and we cannot disco-
ver that they exercised any influence upon the early
church. The subject fell in exactly with the temper of
those times, which were as much distinguished by the pre-
dominance of an ardent longing to pry into the secrets of
the immaterial world, as are our own, by researches into
those of the visible creation. We are therefore not sur-
prised to find, that it was seized upon with avidity by the
curious and intermeddling spirit with things not revealed,
which characterised that epoch. It seems to have been
the point upon w^hich, of all others, further revelation
was most impatiently looked for. Immediately on the
termination of the first century, Ignatius the martyr thus
expresses himself, " I myself, although I am in bonds,
yet am I not able to understand heavenly things — as the
orders of angels and the several companies of them under
their respective princes: things visible and invisible, in
these I am yet a learner."^ But whence was he to learn
these things.? certainly, in his own apprehension, from
further revelation : — and it would appear from a passage
in a subsequent epistle,^^ that he then believed himself
to have obtained it.
But whether Ignatius arrived at this knowledge or
not, it was poured forth in copious streams by a writer
who, by no account can be shown to have lived later than
contemporaneously, and who preceded him, according to
the vulgar chronologies ; — a writer who, as far surpassed
<6 Ignat. ad Trail., § 5. 47 Ad Smyrn., § 6.
I
I
45
Ignatius in audacity, as he fell short of him in doctrinal
piety, in scriptural knowledge, and in natural ability, —
In the Shepherd of Hermas we have a system of angelic
orders and ministrations perfectly digested and familiar to
the mind of the author. The personage who reveals the
visions and similitudes to him, declares of himself, " I am
the angel of Repentance, and give understanding to all
that repent f^^ and " all who repent have been justified
by this most salutary, or health-giving, angel, who is a
minister of salvation."'"^^ It would also appear that all the
graces of the Spirit are communicated through the minis-
tration of angels ; for we are told, that '' the holy angel
of God fills men with the blessed Spirit in answer to
prayer.""^^ We are, moreover, made acquainted with
some circumstances touching guardian angels, for which
we should search in vain, in the inspired volume. — We
discover, with surprise, " that there are two angels with
men, the one of righteousness the other of iniquity ;'''^^
and that with these, all the good or evil suggestions of
the heart originate. Their powers also would seem to ap-
proximate much nearer to those of omnipotence, than the
scriptural account will warrant us in assuming. — In the
tenth Command we read of an angel of sadness, who, we
are informed, is the worst of the servants of God; and
who has the power of tormenting the Holy Spirit, of
mixing itself with him, and destroying the efficacy of the
prayers he prompts.^^ Nay, the whole work of grace
48 Command 4.
49 Command 5.
50 Command 11.
51 Command 6.
52 Command 10, § 3. Archbishop Wake says upon this place, " the
reader will please to observe, that he speaketh not of the Holy Ghost as He
46
is accomplished by the ministration of angels ; men are
brought into the church and edified there, or, if they
are false professors, ejected thence, entirely by their
agency.^
On consulting the fathers of the second century, we
find that our subject is no longer in the unfinished and
doubtful state in which it had been left by the Revelations
of God ; but that upon almost every part of it, we obtain
from them a large accession of new facts.
As to the nature of angels ; They are distinct, po-
sitive, and permanent existences ; not mere emanations
resolveable into the substance whence they have originally
issued.^ They belong to a class of essences which par-
takes of the nature both of spirit and matter ;^ like the
human soul it is invisible, though not impalpable ;^
but is transfigurable into human flesh in order that they
may become visible to, and converse with, mankind ; the
power of this assumption is resident in the angels them-
selves, and may be exerted at pleasure: it is effected,
either by a direct creation, or by assuming and changing
is the Spirit of God and the third person of the sacred Trinity ; but of the
spirit given to Christians, being an emanation or gift from the Spirit of
God." The good Archbishop was mistaken ; the early fathers speak too
often in this most unscriptural and profane manner of the Holy Ghost ; thus
Tertullian, " Si spiritus reus apud se sit, conscientiae erubescentis quomodo
audibit orationem ducere ab illo ? de qua erubescente et ipse suffunditur sane-
lus minister; etenim est prophetica vox veteris testamenti,''^ De Exhort.
Cast., c. 10.
53 1 Her., 3. 3 Her., 9, passim.
54 Justin Martyr., Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 358. C.
55 Angeli sine carne sunt. — Irerueus^ lib. 3., c. 23. Imago Dei genero-
sior spiritu materiali quo angeli consistunt. — Tertullian adv. Marc. lib. 2.,
e. 7> Angeli natura substantia spiritualis.— /(i^m. de Animay c. 9.
56 Id. de Anima, c. 9.
I
47
the appearance of some terrene substance.^^ Angels are
sustained by food, but of a quality altogether different
from that required by human beings.^^
As to their offices ; Angels were created by God with
reference to his general works, that as God exercised a
general providence over the universe, they might exercise
a particular providence over the different parts assigned
them.^^ They fulfil the duties of these offices as perfectly
free agents, possessed of entire liberty of will, free to stand
and free to fall, capable of both good and evil.^ In con-
sequence of this, there have been already two angelic de-
fections from the Creator.
The first, which took place immediately upon the
creation of man, was headed by the firstborn angel, whose
name was Sathanas,^^ and who presided over the element
of air :^^ it originated in his envy at mankind ; and he
exhibited the first proof of his apostacy in the temptation
of Eve.^
57 Id, de Came Christi, c. 6. The incarnation of angels is a favourite
subject with Tertullian : he often uses it as an illustration. De Resur.
Car.^ c. 62, &c.
58 Justin. Dial. 279. Z>., Tert. ubi supra ; they derive this notion from
the Septuagint translation of Psa. Ixxviii. 25, which is followed in our
authorised version, but is probably erroneous.
59 Just. Apol. II., 44. A. Athenagorae Legatio 27. C.
60 Justin Dial. 370. A., Athena. Leg. 27- D., Tat. con. Graec. 146, c,
&c., Iren. lib. 4. c. 71-
61 Tatian contra Graec. 146. D.
62 Iren. u. s. lib. 5. c. 34. he deduces this from Eph. ii. 2.
63 Iren. lib. 4. c. 7. S. This opinion was afterwards adopted and im-
proved upon by Mohammed. Allah commands the angels to worship Adam,
and only Eblis (quasi diabolus) refuses. — Koran, Sur 2. v.v. 34, 36. Clement
of Alexandria says it was the fear of the divine image in man which made
the angels conspire to deface it. The idea of their being envious he treats
as incredible.— 2 Strom. § 8.
48
The second fall of the angels occurred shortly after
the creation. The angel of the earth or matter was the
ringleader ;^^ many of the subordinate angels of the same
element being participant with him. It originated in
their negligence of the charge with • which they had been
entrusted by their divine Creator : instead of watching over
inanimate nature, they occupied themselves in admiring
the beauties of the fairest portion of the animate creation.
The angels of God beheld the daughters of men that they
were fair, and they chose to themselves brides from among
them^
We can hardly conceive of a fiction so palpable as
this, which will not bear the test of the slightest exami-
nation. It is contradicted at the outset, by our Lord''s
declaration that the angels are incapable of such affec-
tions;^ and supposing this to be overpast, we are again
met with the intolerable absurdity, of a class of beings
so constituted and yet created of one sex only ! ! We
have only to complete our exposure of its utter nothing-
ness by stating, that it is founded altogether upon a well-
known, and I fear wilful, mistranslation of a passage of
Scripture in the Septuagint.^^
Yet there is scarcely a religious truth however elemen-
tary, for which we could produce a more formidable array
of authority from the writers of the second century, than
for this falsehood. It is repeatedly referred to by Justin
Martyr,^ and by his pupils Athenagoras^'^ and Tatian the
Syrian.^*^ To these may be added Irenaeus,''^ Tertullian,^^
and Clement of Alexandria :^^ and we have now named,
^^ rtis vXrit Kai ruv iv ecurri ii^uv ap^MV.-—A.then, leg. 27* D.
65 Athen. leg. 27- D., &c. 6G Matt. xxii. 30. 67 Gen. vi. 2.
68 Apol. II, p. 44. A. ; Dial. 305. c, &c. 69 Leg. ubi supra.
70 Contra Graecos, 147. A. 71 Adv. Haer., lib. 4. c. 70.
72 De cultu Muliebri, c. 3, &c. 73 Paed. lb. 3. c. li., &c.
I
49
with one exception,^'* the whole of the writers of that epoch,
of whose works any thing is left.
Nor was it allowed to remain as a mere isolated fact
in the systems of these theologians : it acted an important
part therein, and produced an abundant crop of doctrines.
The danger of still further defections from the hea-
venly hosts is by no means past : St. Paul's injunction
regarding the dress of unmarried females during divine wor-
ship/^ originated in his consideration, not for the women,
but for the angels. The prohibition was rendered needful
by their susceptibility of the tender emotions ; and the sin
of the offender consists principally, in the needless exposure
to temptation of her guardian angel.''^
The sinning angels of the second fall instructed their
mortal paramours in the ornamental arts ;''7 they likewise
taught mankind magic,'^^ divination, and astrology ;^^ as
well as the more useful sciences of metallurgy and
botany.^^
Two distinct races of beings sprang from the inter-
course between angels and women. The one consisted of
74 That exception is Theophilus of Antioch ; and from the general
tenor of what remains of his writings, we cannot doubt but his creed upon
this point was that of his cotemporaries. He refers to a lost book on the
nature of Satan, p. 104, D.
75 1 Cor. xi. 4—16.
76 TertulUan de Virg. c. \. He found his authority for this strange
notion in 1 Cor. xi. 10.
77 Idem de Hab. Muliebri, c. 2, de cultu Fam. c. c. 4, 10, &c.
78 Idem de Anima, c. 67.
79 Justin Apol. I, p. 61. A. ; Tertullian de Hab. Mul. c. 2.
80 Tert. Apol. c. 35. According to Clement of Alexandria, these fallen
angels revealed to their brides many truths which it was the intention of the
divine mind to have concealed, until the advent of our Lord. This was one
of the sources whence the Greek philosophy derived the truths it inculcated.
— 5 Strom. % 1.
E
50
the giants and other monsters that infested the antediluvian
earth ; by their evil communications, the human race was
so depraved as to be incapacitated for rendering acceptable
service to the Creator, and was therefore swept away by
the deluge.^^
Demons were also the offspring of this connection.
They are, according to some, a separate class of beings ;^^
while others suppose them to be the souls of the giants.^
These beings are not material, though they take their
nature from matter,^^ but spiritual, like fire and air.^^
To this nature, both their parent angels, and those of the
Satanic fall, are perfectly assimilated ;^^ for having been
excluded from heaven by their transgressions, they are no
longer able to elevate themselves to heavenly things, but
hover about the earth and air.^
This innumerable host of demons and angel-demons
are entirely under the control and guidance of Satan,^ " the
angel of wickedness, the author of all error, the corrupter
of aJl generations ; who, having, at the first, tempted man
to transgress the divine law, and made him, therefore,
liable to death, infused the seeds of all sins into his
posterity ; thus rendering them also obnoxious to his own
81 Irenseus lib. 5. c. 70.
82 Justin Apol. II, 44. B. ; Tert. Apol. c. 22.
83 Athen. u. s. p. 28. A.
84 Tatian contra Graec. 151. c.
86 Id. 154. C.
86 Idem 147. -^.» &c. Tertullian seems to have considered the assimi-
lation not quite complete. He says the demons are more wicked than their
parents — Apol. c. 22.
87 Atfienagoras u. s. According to Tatian, they sojourned among the
different animals that inhabit the earth and the waters ; and in order to
deceive mankind into the idea that they were still celestial, they introduced
these their companions into the Zodiack.~.Con/ra Grac. 147. A.
88 Tertullian u. s.
51
punishment."^^ Between this prince and his subordinates,
tliere is the most perfect unity of design and of action.
Their one motive is hatred to man ; their one object, his
temporal and eternal perdition : and for the accomplishment
of this purpose, the subtilty and tenuity of their natures
furnish them with fearful facilities. They are able to
possess themselves of the bodies of men, afflicting them
with divers diseases and svmdry kinds of death ; and of
their mental faculties, in the case of demoniasm. They
have likewise power over the elements, which they always
exercise to annoy and distress the unhappy objects of their
antipathy, by raising storms and blights to destroy the
fruits of the earth.^
But these fallen beings use their most strenuous
exertions to effect the destruction of the soul : and there-
fore, are incessantly devising temptations, whereby they
may allure mankind to the commission of acts of wicked-
ness. Nor are their powers of mischief limited to mere
external provocations : they can, at all times, transfuse
themselves into those secret recesses of thought where
the motives of human action originate ; and they suggest
the evil motions, which produce murders, wars, adultery,
and the long catalogue of crimes wherewith man offends
his Maker.^^
Of all sins, however, that of idolatry appears most
readily to have accomplished their wicked purposes ; into
this, therefore, they were the most earnest and unremitting
in their efforts to seduce their victims.^^ In putting men
89 Idem de Testimonio Animae, c. 3.
»0 Idem Apol. c. 22. ; de Spect. c. 2.
91 Justin Apol. I, p. 61. ; Apol. II, p. 48. A. ; Tertullian ubi supra ;
Tatian contra Graecos, 154. C.
92 Justin Apol. I, 01. A. ; Tert. Apol. c. c. 23, 2?. ; Tatian u. s. 152.
B. ; Athen. leg. 29. B. C.
i
upon these courses, they were actuated by the ambition
of their prince, to be worshipped as God ;^ a passion in
which themselves also largely participated. They had,
besides, another and more intelligible object in view. — The
blood of the victims and the odours that arose from the
consuming flesh and incense, in the sacrificial acts which
they prescribed as the mode wherein they would be wor-
shipped, were the proper food of the fallen angels and
demons f^ and, of course, its quantity and quality
depended upon the number and rank of their votaries.
To efi'ect this, they possessed the statues of deceased
mortals ; deluding mankind into the belief that they were
deities,^^ by means of the various supernatural operations
which were performed, apparently by the idols, but really
through their agency.
But their most efficacious mode of keeping up the
credit of the various images, under the forms and names
of which they were worshipped as gods,^ was the utterance
of oracular responses.^^ They obtained the knowledge
which enabled them frequently to declare very astonishing
and startling facts, to those who enquired at their shrines,
by the inconceivable rapidity of their movements. They
are all furnished with wings, and such are their powers of
flight, that the world is but as one place to them, for they
are every where in a moment ; and as they are perpetually
93 Iren. lib. 3. c. c. 24, 25. His authority for this is Matt. iv. 8, 9.
94 Justin Apol. I, 59. D. ; Tert. ad Scap. c. 2. ; Athen. 29. c.
95 Justin Apol. I, 55. E., 57. D., &c. ; Tert. de Spect. c. 10. ; and in
many other places.
^ The demons had no names but of these fabulous deities.— Justin
Apol. I, 55. E., ^c. ; Tert. de Idol. c. 15. Athenagoras contends that the
gods of the heathen were dead men, and the demons merely haunted them.
^Leg. 31. A., &c.
97 Tatian uhi supra, 152. B.
53
passing to and fro in the region of the air, they are able to
apprise their votaries of events in one country, the instant
they are transacted in another.^ This velocity passed with
mankind for divinity.
For the same purpose, of deluding the sons of Adam,
and drawing them on to their eternal perdition, they
taught them certain ceremonies in their mistaken worship,
which bore a strong resemblance to those of Judaism, and
even of Christianity.^ Nay, the divine truths, with which
their insight into the Almighty's dispensations had furnished
them during their perfect state,^^ they made subservient
to their illusions, by disclosing them under a mutilated
form, and thus obtained credit for virtue as well as
divinity.^^^
The advent of our Lord, produced important changes
in the condition of the evil angels, by greatly curtail-
ing their power of deceiving mankind. The blasphemous
heresies of the second century are declared, by the co-
temporary fathers, to have been the direct expressions
of the rage which possessed the devil and his angels,
when they discovered, from the preaching of Christ and
his apostles, that they were doomed to eternal torment :
of this they had before been ignorant, and therefore had
not gone to the same extent of blasphemy.^^
Our spiritual enemies, however, are still sufficiently
formidable, both in their powers of evil and in their
numbers. They swarm in every element ; they throng
98 Tert. Apol. c. 22.
99 Justin Apol. I, p. 89. A. ; Tert. Apol. c. 22.
100 See Note 80.
101 Justin Dial. p. 296. C, &c. &c.
102 Iren. lib. 5. c. 28., where he also quotes from a lost book of Justin's
in support of his opinion. That Justin held this notion is evident ; see his
first Apology, pp.
the universe ; they make mankind the objects of their
individual and personal, as well as of their general, ma-
lignity. Every human being is attended by an evil
demon,^^^ as well as by his guardian angel, through life.
Nor can even our eternal salvation save us from appre-
hensions of suffering from them, in a future state ; for
at the hour of death, a struggle takes place, between the
good angel and the evil one, for the soul of their charge ;
and if the latter prevails, as is frequently the case, even
with the departed spirits of good men, it remains from
thence until the day of judgment, so under the control
of the demons, as to be compelled to do their bidding.^^'*
Our protectors against all these machinations to
accomplish our ruin are the holy angels ; who, in numbers
equal to those of their antagonists, are engaged incessantly
in defending from their assaults, that universe, the parti-
cular providential dispensations of which, they administer
as free agents ; responsible only to God for the use or
abuse of the divine power delegated to them. The per-
formance of these duties calls the host of heaven to a state of
interminable warfare with the infernal legions, — a warfare,
which combines all the horrors of a personal combat, with
those of a general battle. To enable them successfully
to cope with their enemies, a most exact system of
discipline and subordination was deemed, by our authors,
indispensible. Individual angels are specially deputed to
preside over each of the operations of providence ; the
angel of death, ^'^'"^ for instance, and the angel of ven-
103 Tert. de Anima, c 5?. ; Apol. c. 46.
104 Justin Dial. 322. C.
105 Angelus evocator animarum. — Tert. de Anima, c, 53, : his authority
for this fiction was probably the uyyiKoi Bavaroipapoi of the Scptuagint
version ; see Job xx. 15., &c.
55
geance.^^ But besides these, prefectures of good angels
are distributed throughout the cities and nations of the
world, according to the divine and primitive orders. ^^
And, as a shepherd gives the whole flock his general atten-
tion, but nevertheless, bestows his especial care upon the
sheep that promise the most abundant reward of his labour,
so the angelic ministrations are principally lavished upon
those individuals of the human race, that give the finest
promise of regal and philosophic mental powers. Over
these, a particular angel was deputed to watch, and upon
the diligent discharge of his duty, their progress in wisdom
greatly depended.^^^ By the ministration of these national
angels, philosophy was revealed to the Greeks :^^ and
generally, it was an important part of their function, to
instil good and holy desires into the minds of men.
But this last duty was performed by them, in entire
subordination to another order, which occupied a much
more exalted rank in the angelic hierarchy. The Christian
graces (as we have seen) were ministered by angels of this
high class, an individual presiding over each of them ; and
the same arrangement obtained also, with the Christian
ordinances ; each had its peculiar angel, whose ministrations
106 Angelus executionis. — Idem c. 35.
107 Clem. Alex. 7 Strom. § 2., where he copies his namesake of Rome,
ml Cor. c. 29 ; they, as well as Irenaeus, lib. 5. c. 12. p. 230., were mis-
led by the Septuagint, which renders Deut. xxxii. 8., in utter defiance of the
Hebrew ; " he" God " appointed the bounds of the nations according to
the number of the angels of God."
108 G Strom. § 17.
109 7 Strom. § 2. Clement supposes that the Greeks derived their
philosophy from three sources : from the inspiration of the Logos ministered
by angels, which Tatian calls, sympathy with the breath of God ; {see
Note 80) from the unhallowed revelations of the fallen angels: and
from the writings of Moses and the prophets; whence he endeavours to
show that they drew largely, 1 Strom. § 3, 4. ; 5 Strom. § 1 .
56
were indispensible to the efficacy of the rite. TertuUian
casually mentions the angel of baptism, ^^^* and the angel
of prayer :^^^ and we cannot doubt but that, in his
system, the other Christian ordinances were similarly pre-
sided over.
Thus we perceive that the doctrine of the church in
the second century, regarding the holy angels, as well
as the impure demons, was altogether impatient of the
narrow bounds to which revelation had confined it, and
that a system of demonology, perfect and complete in all
its parts, was as zealously propounded for universal belief
as any truth which that word contains.
We need not institute any detailed comparison of the
two schemes of angelic existence which are now before us,
to discover, not only a want of harmony and coherence in
their several parts, but, that there is really no affinity
whatever between them. Certain facts it is true are com-
mon to both ; but all these are evidently foreign to the
latter scheme, and have been fitted into it afterwards ;
often clumsily enough. They set out upon notions of the
Supreme Being, altogether at variance with each other.
The one supposes a God omnipotent and omniscient, who
impresses, equally on the minutest and the greatest of his
works, the infallible signs of his existence, as a proper act
of his own Godhead. The brightest seraph that burns in
his heaven, and the meanest mite that crawls upon his earth,
are both the tokens of his creative power and the objects
of his providential care ; to him, and to him alone, they,
and all that infinite range of existences whereby these
two extremes are ultimately connected, are indebted for
life, and breath, and all things. This, his glory, he gives
110 Angelus baptismi — De Baptismoy c. 6.
111 Angelus orationis— i>e Oratione^ c. 12.
I
57
not to another ; he accomplishes no part of his purposes
by delegating his divine power ; he rules no where by
deputy. As to the heavenly host that encircle his presence
in innumerable multitudes, they are his ministers that
do his pleasure : they do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. They know no other motive.
Instinct with his will, they are as much the passive instru-
ments in his hand for the fulfilment of his high behests,
as the powers of inanimate nature. It matters not, whether
he cut off in judgment by the blast of the pestilence, or
by the sword of the destroying angel : in either case, the
act is his own. Can there he evil in the city and the Lord
hath not done it ? Or does he save in mercy ? He
converts the sinner by the instrumentality of his accredited
minister, thereby giving joy to the angels of his presence.
By the faithful admonitions of his earthly ambassador, and
by the agency of " ministering spirits sent forth to minister
unto the heirs of salvation," the convert is kept, amid
many difficulties, in the narrow way that leadeth unto
life ; and in God^s good time his ransomed soul is released
from the burden of mortality, and wafted, on the wings of
its guardian angel, to his presence in glory. But the
minister that labours on earth, and the angel that flies in
mid heaven, and the beatified spirit that sings in paradise,
all combine their voices to proclaim to the universe — " This
hath God wrought." The agency of the man and of the
angel are lost. /, even I, am he ; and beside me there is
no Saviour. In the scheme of angelic existences we are
now considering, God, is all in all ! !
Let us endeavour to collect the attributes of the God
of the other system. — We soon find that it is, in the
nature of things impossible, that he can exercise either
omnipotence or omniscience, consistently with the entire
I
free agency of the countless myriads of spiritual existen-
ces, to whose responsible administrations he has committed
the economies of providence and grace. For, whatever
may be said of free agency under a dispensation like ours,
where our God is a God that hideth himself and will be
sought of them that find him, to talk of the free agency
of sentient beings, dwelling everlastingly in the full blaze
of their Creator's presence, and beholding the perfect mani-
festation of incessant displays of his omnipotence and
omniscience, is absolute idiotcy. Whatever attributes,
therefore, the God of the early fathers may have possessed,
he never could show himself forth in any other character
than that of the mere president, or, at most, monarch of
the universe : having a natural and imprescriptible right
to the supremacy which is conceded, by an artificial one, to
an earthly potentate, by his fellow men ; but differing from
him only in this particular. We readily grant, that these
authors are happily inconsistent with themselves, in their
perfect orthodoxy upon the subject of the divine attri-
butes. But we refer to the passages we have quoted,
wherein they ascribe to the angels powers which trench so
painfully upon those of the Supreme Being,"^ as proofs
they were conscious of this inconsistency, and endeavoured
thus to palliate it.
Again ; if it be true that innumerable multitudes of
responsible angels administer the whole of our relations to
the invisible world, both temporal and spiritual, if to their
good will we must ascribe our mercies, and to their anger
or malignity our afflictions, — what rational objection can be
urged against our addressing our prayers and praises to
them personally, as well as to the First Great Cause, from
whom (it would appear) we are estranged by so many
112 Sec page 45.
59
removes ? If they fulfil the commands of the Almighty,
as responsible agents, punishable for disobedience ; if the
same abyss which has already swallowed up countless
myriads of their compeers, still yawns for them, surely
their acts of obedience are, as it regards us the receivers
of the benefits thereof, highly meritorious, whatever they
may be with their Creator; and call for our supplications
when we need them at their hands, and our thanksgivings
when they are granted, upon principles so plainly elemen-
tary to the relations of one being to another, that we
hesitate not to assert, that the God of Infinite Wisdom
cannot, because he will not, contradict them in any of his
precepts. Yet, upon the scheme we are considering, we
cannot at all reconcile to this principle, the stern prohibi-
tions of angel worship, and of all attempts at commu-
nication with the spiritual world, with which his word
abounds. For if our parents and our guardian angels are
equally the voluntary and responsible dispensers to us
of the bounties of the Universal Parent, what reason is
there for honouring the one, which is not equally a reason
for honouring the other ? Or why is not he who honours
his father and mother, in conformity with the divine
precept, guilty of impiety towards God, as well as he who
worships the angels ; since both stand in exactly the same
relation between God and himself ? We are not surprised
to find that the believers in such a system felt this difficulty
to be insurmountable. Irenaeus administers a very gentle
rebuke to the practice of angel worship :^^^ and an irre-
fragable proof of its universal prevalence soon afterwards,
113 He merely says that such was not the custom of the church in his
time. Nee in vocationibus angelis facit aliquid nee incantationibus. — Lib. 2.
e. 57. According to the Romanists, Irenseus condemns the worship of evil
demons only in this passage.
60
may be gathered from the circumstance, that nearly all the
ancient liturgies sanction acts of demonology, by express
prescription. It is unnecessary to proceed further with
our comparison of the two systems. The God of the one
is the Jehovah of the Christian Scriptures, the God of the
other is the Jove of the heathen mythologies.
It is quite needful to state here that the early fathers
were by no means the authors of these unhallowed addi-
tions to the divine truth. In the writings of the later
Jews, they found the two in a state of incorporation so
intimate, that I do not hesitate to assert that no critical
skill, which they had, humanly speaking, the opportunity of
acquiring, could have enabled them to effect the separation.
The Targumists^^'* and the Apocryphal Books"^ abound
with demonological allusions ; the system they adopted is
also that of Philo^^^ and Josephus ;^^^ and to all these, they
followed the example of the Jews in deferring, as to high
114 See the Targum Jonathan on Gen. vi. 3 : also the Targum on Psa.
Ixxxvii. 25., and other similar places.
115 See the ridiculous fable of Tobit and his dog, passim. To this the
Christian demonologists are probably indebted for the name of the arch-
angel Raphael. (Tob. c. 4., &c.) Though in adopting it, they seem to have
overlooked the circumstance that it is in reality a mere soubrigicet^ descrip-
tive of the part which the angel performs in the story, in restoring Tobit to
sight : pa(paiX quasi Sk'NSI, the divine healer, or physician. The name
of the archangel Uriel, which occurs in the 2nd book of Esdras, (c. 5. v. 40.,
&c. &c.) is also of the same character ; it signifies tfie illuminations of God,
{^H-'>'^^H) and refers to the office which the angel is made to fulfil in this
eX'post-facto prophecy, which, according to the Archbishop of Cashel, was
written about twenty-eight years before the Christian aera — Prim. Ez. lib.
Vers. Ethiop. ed. R. Laurence, p. 317. See also the mode of speaking of the
angels, and the parts they act, in Susanna and Bel and the Dragon, as com-
pared with corresponding passages in the canonical books.
116 See his tract *£/» Ttynvruv Opera p. 221. Edit. Col.
117 Ant. lib. 1. c. 3., &c.
61
authorities. But their main support in this their error
was certainly the Septuagint Version of the Old Testa-
ment ; the translators of which, whoever they were, were
deeply infected with these opinions, and have, in many
places, corrupted the word of God for the purpose of
supporting them."^ We have already seen that the early
fathers held this to be an inspired version, and therefore
did not acknowledge the necessity of any appeal to the
Hebrew verity in confirmation of its renderings.
We have also observed that they entertained the same
opinion regarding the Book of Enoch, which they imagined
had been lost at the flood, and afterwards communicated to
Noah by re-inspiration. ^^^ This book, so long supposed
to be irrecoverably lost,^^ has been recently restored to
European literature, through the admirable translation of
an Ethiopic copy by the Archbishop of Cashel : whose
ingenuity and learning have supplied us with some very
important facts regarding its origin. It is the production
of a Jew residing in a country considerably to the North
of Palestine, (therefore probably one of the Captivity of
the ten tribes) who flourished in the early part of the reign
of Herod the Great, ^^^ about thirty years before the birth
118 It is of course impossible here to enter upon a subject like this. I
would merely request the reader to compare the following passages in the
Septuagint, in addition to those already referred to, with the corresponding
ones in our English version, or still better, with the Hebrew original, Deut.
xxxii. 8, 10, 43. xxxiii. 2. Job. xx. 15. xxxvi. 14. xxxviii. 7. xl. 6, 14.
Psa. cxxxvii. I. Prov. xvi. 14. Isa. xxx. 4. I am much mistaken if the
whole of these places, as well as many others, are not mistranslated, often
very artfully, in order to favour the false doctrine we are considering.
119 Tert. de Hab. Mul. c. 2.
120 Ludolph treats the idea of its existence in Ethiopic as altogether
ridiculous — Hist. jEih. lib. 3. c. 5.
121 The Book of Enoch translated from an Ethiopic MS. by R. Laurence,
LL.D., &c — Preliminary Dissertation^ pp. 20 — 40.
G2
of Christ. This higlily imaginative and beautiful work
embodies the notions imbibed by the Jews, during the
Babylonian captivity, regarding the angels : and it is from
hence that the early fathers derived nearly the whole of the
details of their system. The idea of hosts of angels, the
appointed and responsible guardians of the universe, and
the dispensers of the various operations of providence and
grace, is the basis upon which the entire work rests. It
was here also that Hermas found his angel of repentance. ^^
Tertullian''s angels of vengeance^^^ and of death^^"^ may
likewise be detected amid the obscurity which a double
translation, and doubtless many careless transcriptions in
both, have inevitably accumulated upon a book already
sufficiently mysterious and perplexed.^^^
The second fall, which was so universally believed by
122 Enoch xl. 9. His name is Phanuel, i. c '~JX-133, which in Hebrew
is descriptive of his office ; " he presides over repentance and the hope of
those who will inherit eternal life." Hermas is also largely indebted to the
Book of Enoch for the scenery of his visions. Origen long ago discovered
this resemblance ; ^tpi ap;(;uv. lib. 1. c. 3.
123 « Raguel, one of the holy angels who inflicts punishment on the
world." — Enoch xx. 4. He is likewise mentioned by Hermas, lib. 3. sim. G.
124 '4 Surakiel, one of the holy angels who presides over the spirits of
the children of men that transgress." — Idem. xx. 6. In another place he is
called Suryal, c. 9, 1.
125 The Book of Enoch was originally written in Hebrew ; but the
Ethiopic has been translated from a Greek version. The former has existed
for many ages, only as a church language. Ethiopic MSS. are therefore
often mere transcriptions, many times copied, by persons whose knowledge
of them was confined to the characters only ; a process of all others the
raost certain to multiply and perpetuate errors. Add to this, that Europeans
have hitherto had but very limited opportunities of acquiring it. All that
could be done, amid these formidable difficulties, has certainly been effected
by the most reverend and learned author of the English translation. I
mention this, to account for the apparent failure of our comparison in some
minute particulars — as the names of angels : in all the great outlines of the
systems, it holds exactly.
G3
the Christians of the second century, was exactly copied
by them from the Book of Enocli. Tlie unfaithfuhiess of
the angelic watchers,^^ their marriages with the daughters
of men,^^ their instructions in wicked arts and forbidden
knowledge, ^^^ the corruption of the human race by them
and the giants their ofFspring,^^^ and the conversion of the
souls of the latter into demons after their bodies had
perished in the flood,^^ are circumstances for which they
are altogether indebted to this splendid fiction. The
leader of this defection also is the angel of the world, who
seduces the legions of inferior spirits that are under him,
with Enoch, as well as with the early fathers.^^^ The
mixed and restless nature of the demons is another point of
coincidence, which would appear to leave nothing to be
desired in the proof of the absolute identity of the two
systems.^^^
The fathers of the second century, therefore, adopted
opinions regarding the angels which were very widely
diffused among the cotemporary Jews, being traceable
throughout nearly all their writings, from the period of the
Babylonian captivity; and which appear to have been
embodied and systematized by the highly gifted, but erring,
author of the Pseudo-Enoch. ^^"^
126 C. 7.
127 Id. V. 10.
128 C. 8.
129 C. 7. vv. 11— 14., &c.
130 C. 15. 8., &c.
131 C. 14. 1. c. 7., &c.
132 C. 15. 9, 10. The Platonic philosophy has also contributed to the
metaphysics of the patristic scheme. The notions of good and evil demons,
and of their inhaling the nidor of the sacrifices as their proper food, are both
from thence. Many similar coincidences will be found in Porphyry, lam-
blichus, and the later wTiters of that school.
'33 If any proof be wanting (in addition to those collected by the Arch-
64
With regard to their origin, we conceive that cannot
be a question of any great difficulty : since the notion of
the Supreme Being upon which they are founded, that
of a father of all administering his universe through the
medium of free and responsible gods or angels, is the
primary element of all idolatry. It is probable, that the
process by which this assimilation of the inspired truth to
the errors of heathenism took place was a very gradual one ;
beginning in the idolatrous practices which disgrace the
early history of the Jewish nation, and perhaps attaining
its consummation with the children of the captivity ; who,
dwelling with the Chaldaeans, a people famed for enquiries
and theories regarding the world of spirits, would be placed
in circumstances naturally conducive to the progress of
such an error among them.
But whatever might be its origin, the prevalence of
this false doctrine in the Christian church was but of short
duration. It is pleasant to find, that even in the third
bishop of Cashel) that this book was originally written in Hebrew, or some
of its cognate dialects, we may find it in the word " Ophanim," which
occurs throughout, as the appellation of one of the three exalted orders of
spirits who are the immediate attendants upon the person of Jehovah : thus
c. Ixxx. V. 9, " The Cherubim, the Seraphim, and the Ophanim, surrounded
the throne of God ; these are they that never sleep." This is a Hebrew word
which also describes one of the accompaniments of the divine presence in
Ezekiers visions (D'<3SnM see Ezek. i. 16, to the end, &c.) but which, on
the authority, of the context, of every other place where the word occurs in
the Hebrew Bible, and of the ancient versions, (from the Septuagint down-
wards,) is translated " wheels."
Another circumstance also ought not to be lost sight of. The copy we
now possess has been largely interpolated from the New Testament ;
expressions and sentiments peculiar to this revelation abound throughout
the book : and one long passage, c. c. 60 — 63. pp. 65 — 71-, is made up of
little else than a string of such quotations artfully disguised : for example,
he quotes Matt, xxv- 31, with the very suspicious alteration, " son of
woman** for " son of man^''* as it reads in the Gospel, c. Ixi. v. 9.
65
century the Hebrew learning of Origen had cast a consi-
derable shade of suspicion upon the divine authority of the
Book of Enoch and of the Septuagint version :^^^ while
in the succeeding century, the still more profound erudition
of Jerome no longer hesitated to pronounce the former
altogether apocryphal,^^ and to point out that the occur-
rence of a quotation from it in a canonical epistle, no more
conferred a title to inspiration upon the Book of Enoch,
than upon certain heathen poets of whose productions St.
Paul had made a similar use.^^ At the end of the same
period John Chrysostom treats the second fall of the angels
as a mere fable,^^^ and thenceforward it was no longer
believed or taught as a doctrine of the church.
But though the error itself was thus early exploded,
the later fathers do not appear to have considered that it
exercised a very powerful influence upon the other parts
of the theology of their predecessors. It is for this
reason, that we had rather speculate upon some previous
probationary state of existence through which the angelic
nature has passed, than admit, for a moment, into our
system even its elementary doctrine ; that of the present
free agency and peccability of the angels of God. There
is scarcely a revealed truth which this notion does not
interfere with and vitiate : but especially, upon that vast
range of important questions which regard our duties to
God and God''s dealings with us, the mind is perfectly
bewildered in endeavouring to disentangle clear perceptions,
from the inextricable maze of contradiction and confusion
which this error introduces. It was therefore plainly
134 Contra Cels. p. 267, 268, Ed. Spenc. 'rtpi Apx^v, lib. 4. cap. ult., &c.
135 « Manifestissiinus liber est et inter Apocryphos computatur." —
Hier. Comm. in Psa. cxxieiL .3.
136 Coram, in Tit. i. 12.
137 fAv^oXoy'ta. — In Gen. vi. Horn. 22.
66
impossible, that the opinions of the early fathers upon
these and other points of Christian doctrine, should not
have been materially modified by the grievous mistakes
into which they fell regarding the angels. Yet were their
opinions, though grounded in acknowledged error, impli-
citly adopted by their successors for many ages, with little
or no alteration. And thus again, the errors generated
remained in the church, long after the generating error
liad passed away.
I
CHAPTER VI.
THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. BAPTISM.
The visible church has long halted between two opinions
upon the nature of the Sacraments which Christ has
ordained therein. One of these opinions, which would
seem to have a considerable advantage over the other, on
account both of its antiquity and of the present number
of its adherents, maintains that there is a spiritual efficacy
inherent in the elements of either sacrament ; and that,
provided they be administered according to the divine
institution, the receiver must necessarily partake of the
benefits they are intended to convey. The waters of
baptism undergo a certain change, which renders them
instrumental to that inward washing from corrupt and evil
dispositions, of which the rite itself is the symbol ; so
that regeneration follows baptism, as effect follows cause.
In the same manner, there is an actual transmutation of
the elements themselves in the other sacrament ; they be^
come, during the performance of the eucharistical service,
the material body and blood of Jesus Christ, of which he
who partakes is therefore necessarily apprehensive.
The other opinion, which, according to its opponents,
was scarcely heard of before the Protestant Reforma-
tion, and which, even now, has but few adherents, in
comparison of the former, asserts, that the elements are
I
the mere outward, visible signs of certain inward and
spiritual benefits, the communication of which depends
altogether upon the will of the blessed and eternal Spirit
who is the giver of them. Consequently, the sacramental
graces are imparted with exactly the same regard to the
frame of mind in the partaker of the outward rite, as
obtains in all the other ordinances and means of grace
prescribed by the New Testament. The unworthy receiver,
neither experiences spiritual regeneration in baptism nor
discerns the Lord's body in the eucharist; for the same
reason, that the prayer which goeth forth of feigned lips
fails to obtain the answer which God is pleased to give to
the right performance of that Christian duty. We shall
presently review the whole of the Scripture testimony to
the point in question : independently of it, however, the
latter opinion would seem to be most in harmony with the
general spirit of the Christian doctrine; which, in the
matter of distribution of gifts and graces, always brings
prominently forward the divine omniscience, regarding
scrupulously the heart of him who seeks, and giving or
withholding them, accordingly. This analogy is certainly
violated, if we account the sacramental elements as means
of grace in themselves necessarily efficacious. But the in-
consistency is greatly heightened, when, after the example
of a large and authorative portion of the Christian church,
we arrange the two sacraments under different categories ;
and make the one efficacious when rightly administered, the
other, when rightly received ; or in other words, when we
assert baptismal regeneration, and deny eucharistical tran-
substantiation. We readily grant, that the Scriptures
alone can ultimately decide the question; but, nevertheless,
there is so plain an inconvenience in the want of an analo-
gous system of theology, that we may fairly argue a
69
priori^ from the improbability of a revelation from heaven
being so circumstanced. How this consistency is to be
maintained, without assuming the sameness in nature of
the two sacraments, I must confess I cannot comprehend.
Again, let this hallucination be permitted in our theo-
logical scheme, and there is an end of all argument upon
the nature of either sacrament : since our logical deduc-
tions in favour of baptismal regeneration, will equally
prove the real presence in the eucharist ; while on the
other hand our deductive refutations of this opinion, will
be, to the same extent, refutations of our own, regarding
baptism.
We now proceed to compare the scripture doctrine
upon each sacrament, with those which have been advanced
by the early fathers. Though, in raising these much-tossed
questions, we abjure all idea of rekindling the unhallowed
fires wherein they were once enveloped ; but which (as
we hope) the Spirit of God, dropping as the rain and
distilling as the dew upon his church, has now quenched
for ever. — Our only desire is, to afford a contribution of
help, however feeble, towards that brotherly adjustment,
which is so evidently the mind of Him who prayed, that
his disciples might be all one, even as he is one with the
Father.
" Sacraments,*" says Hooker,^ " by reason of their
mixed nature are more diversely interpreted and disputed
than any other part of religion besides." And though the
controversy occupies less of the public attention and is
disputed with less acrimony now, than it was two hundred
years ago, yet the opinions of the various sections of the
church upon the subject remain nearly in the same state
as when Hooker wrote. He then that goeth about to
1 Eccl. Pol. b. 5. § 57.
treat upon a point in religion thus circumstanced, is not to
be heard, unless his argument be always grounded upon
the declarations and precepts of Holy Scripture concerning
it. Having, therefore, in the exercise of faith and humi-
lity, cast from us all preconception and prejudice, let us
reverently bow before these pure fountains of divine wis-
dom, that we may receive into our hearts, as into prepared
and consecrated vessels, the clear stream of truth that
flows from thence.
We commence with the sacrament of Baptism, which
is first mentioned in the New Testament, as the rite of
initiation into the school or sect of John Baptist, where ^
it is termed the baptism of change of mind, repentance, ^
unto remission, (renunciation)^ of sins. In other words,
they who by submitting to this ceremony became John''s
disciples professed a new course of life, renouncing their
former sins. The account given of it by another evan-
gelist is to the same purport : John*'s disciples were bap-
tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins ; ^ that is,
declaring their former course of life to be sinful, and pro-
fessing to renounce it. In other parts of Scripture also it
is invariably named, for the sake of distinction, the bap-
tism of repentance.
It may also be observed, that the Evangelists speak
of the rite, as one with which John's cotemporaries were
already familiar : and such appears, from other authorities,
to have been the fact. Converts were admitted by baptism
2 Luke iii. 2, 3.
3 fittrdvetec.
4 a^ttrtf. The primary meaning of the word, is merely deliverance, by
whatever means accomplished. John never ascribes to his baptism any effi-
cacy in procuring the pardon of sin, nor did his disciples so receive it :
else, what necessity for any other .baptism ?
* Matt. iii. ^
71
into the Jewish sect of the Essenes ; and it probably formed
a part of the temple service for the admission of pro-
selytes to the law, among the later Jews. John, therefore,
neither invented the rite, nor associated a new idea with it.
It had long been in use among the Jews, as a mode of
professing a change of religious sentiments. We find
moreover, that the Baptist omitted no opportunity of
pointing out the imperfection of his own ministry, by
directing the attention of his disciples to Him, whose way
he was sent to prepare, and who, coming after him, was
mightier than he ; from him they were to receive an inward
baptism, a purification of the heart, through the agency
of the Holy Ghost ; resembling the penetrative and
destructive efficacies of fire, rather than the mere detergent
properties of water .^
It is well known that the first public act of our Lord's
ministry was, to sanction the rite of water baptism, by
himself accepting it, at the hand of his precursor ; and
that, on his ascent from the waters of Jordan, that effusion
of the Holy Spirit took place, wherein the church has
long discerned an unanswerable proof of the Trinity of
Persons in the Divine Unity .'^ The sacred histories also
inform us that baptism was employed for the purpose of
initiation by the disciples of Christ, during the period of
his ministry ; and though he himself never administered
it,^ yet, on one occasion certainly,^ and doubtless, on many
others also, he was personally present at its administration
by his followers ; until, at length, after his resurrection, he
for ever constituted it a part, and an important one, of the
6 « With the Holy Ghost and with fire."— Matt. iii. 11. Mark i. 8. Luke
iii. 16. John i. 33.
7 Matt. iii. 13—17.
8 John iv. 1, 2.
9 John iii. 22.
72
religion he came into the world to proclaim, in the memo-
rable words which his church has nevertheless so strangely
forgotten : " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap-
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost."^^
The rite of baptism consists, as its name imports, of
submersion in water, either literally or figuratively, by
sprinkling, in the name of the Trinity. The intent of
this symbol is shadowed forth in Holy Scripture under
a two-fold metaphor. The one, taken from the detergent
properties of the sacramental element, expresses it by the
washing or purifying of the conscience from the guilt of
sin, and of the heart from the pollution of sinful desires,
by the agency of the Holy Ghost." The element wherein
this internal washing takes place is, in other parts of
Sacred Scripture, declared to be the blood of Christ.^^
The other metaphor, which is somewhat more remote
from the symbol, finds in the act of immersion the idea
of death, and in the subsequent emergence from the bap-
tismal font, that of resuscitation ; and this, again, is
presented to us under the double aspect of, the death and
quickening of the seed in the womb in animal repro-
duction, and the natural death and resurrection of the
body. The first of these notions is denoted by its accom-
plishment, rather than by its process. Our Saviour ex-
presses it by being " born of water and of the spirit f^^
and employing the same metaphor, St. Paul styles the
baptismal font '' the laver of regeneration."^'* The other
aspect of the metaphor is further illustrated by the death
and resurrection of Christ. " So many of us as were
i^> Matt, xxviii. 19. ii Acts xxiL 16. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Eph. v. 26.
12 Heb. ix. 14. 1 John i. 7- ^^ John iii. 6.
14 Tit. iii. 5.
73
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death :
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in new-
ness of life.""^^ These figures may, with some show of
reason, be held to be, to us, somewhat remote and obscure ;
but happily no doubt whatever hangs over the meaning
they are intended to convey. The inward grace of bap-
tism is the purification of the soul from sin, through the
blood of Christ, ministered by that Holy Spirit whose
office it is to take of the things of Christ and show them
to his disciples, after the same manner as water purifies the
body. To apply the stronger figure of the Baptist : it is,
having the inner man pervaded by the influences of the
Holy Ghost, which as fire consume the body of sin, as is
the outward man, by the waters of baptism. By a change
of metaphor, it is a death unto sin and a new birth, or
resurrection,^^ unto righteousness. In a word, it is a
change in the affections and principles of the mind, to
the full as entire, as these figurative expressions would
imply.
It will be observed that in all these places the outward
sign and the inward grace of baptism are mentioned toge-
ther. This circumstance is the ground of the argument
for their inseparability. We will, therefore, reconsider
them with reference to this important question. The last
command of our Saviour to his disciples as recorded by
the Evangelist St. Mark, reads thus : " Go ye into all the
15 Rom. vi. 3, 4 I see also Col. ii. 12. and 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21., where the
submersion is typified by Noah, shut up and saved in the ark, and the
emergence, by the resurrection of Christ.
16 These two ideas were often confounded by the early Christian
writers.
world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; and he that
believeth not shall be damned.""^^ Here is a plain unequi-
vocal assertion of the general necessity of baptism to sal-
vation : but we maintain, that the passage also embodies
an equally positive declaration that faith in the receiver
is indispensible to its efficacy. For faith and baptism are
not two independent agents in the work, as appears from
the antithesis that concludes the sentence : " he that be-
lieveth not shall be damned.^' The omission of baptism in
this clause clearly intimates, that, as the damning sin is
unbelief, so the saving grace is faith ; and consequently,
the meaning really conveyed by it is as though it had read :
" he that believeth not, shall be damned, though he be
baptized.'" To exactly the same effect is another text to
which we have already referred. — " Ye are buried with
him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him
from the dead.""^^ In other words, ye, being buried with
Christ in the waters of baptism, have risen again with him
from thence unto newness of life, because ye had faith in
the ability and willingness of God to perform this miracle
of grace.
The correctness of this interpretation is further con-
firmed by the cases of baptism recorded in the inspired
account of the ministry of the Apostles. Observing an
exact conformity to the precept of their Divine Master,
they only administered the rite to those in whom they
found faith in the word of God, and convictions of sin
resulting therefrom :^^ — ^both which are elsewhere declared
to be divine gifts, and the tokens of that work of the
17 Mark xvi. 15, 16. 18 Col. ii. 12.
10 See Acts ii. 41. viii. 12, 37, 38. ix. 17, 18. xvi. 14, 15. xvii. 8.
75
Spirit upon the heart which is called regeneration .2*^ Our
view of the subject is also strongly supported by the
narrative of the conversion of Cornelius the Centurion \^^
whence we derive much instruction regarding the nature of
baptism. An angel appeared to this devout proselyte and
told him, that his prayers and alms had come up for a
memorial before God. Now we know assuredly, that no
man can pray acceptably, unless he have the renewing
influences of the Spirit of God upon his heart :^^ such,
therefore, was doubtless the case with Cornelius, — ^yet he
was not then baptized. We also read,^^ that during the
preaching of St. Peter the miraculous influences of the
Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and his household : though
Cornelius and his household were even then unbaptized.
The mightiest energies, therefore, of the Holy Spirit were
poured out without measure, conveying to the subjects of
this his grace, spiritual regeneration in its largest and most
comprehensive sense ; and all, without the intervention of
the external rite. Nor was it accounted by the inspired
apostle under whose ministry it occurred, either a de-
parture from the ordinary course of the divine procedure,
or a reason for the omission of the outward sign : which it
certainly would have been, were this, in other instances,
the unerring and only vehicle of the inward grace. — Far
from it, St. Peter^ found in this very circumstance an
argument for its immediate administration. Most plainly,
therefore, does it appear from Scripture, that all the re-
generating graces of the Spirit may precede the rite of
baptism : and that in every instance upon record of the
apostolic use of this sacrament, the outward sign was
applied to confirm the inward grace, not to convey it.
20 Eph. ii. 8. Acts xi. 18, &c. 21 Acts x.
22 Rom. viii. 26. 2.3 Acts x. 44. 24 ib. 47, 48.
76
The examination of the remaining passages will dis-
cover to us the import which Scripture really attaches to
the outward sign in baptism.
Our Saviour declares to Nicodemus : " Except a man
be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.**'^^ St. Paul also writes in his epistle to
Titus, that " God hath saved us according to his mercy
by the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost.^'^ The passages are exactly parallel; the expression
" being horn of water ^'''^ refers to the same idea as, " the
laver of regeneration ,•"" as also " being born of the Spirit,^"*
in the one, corresponds in meaning with " the renewing of
the Holy Ghost^'''' in the other. These expressions having
always been interpreted by the church, as denoting respec-
tively the outward sign and inward grace of baptism, we
cannot err in affixing this meaning to them. When, there-
fore, we shall have ascertained the exact sense in which the
phrases, being born of water^ and laver of regeneration^
were understood in the times of the New Testament, we
may hope to have arrived at the mind of the Spirit regard-
ing the former. The word here translated " regeneration,*"
occurs in only one other place in the Inspired Volume ;^
where it plainly refers to that new system or economy of
all things, which shall be introduced at the consummation
of the divine purposes in human redemption. In the same
sense, it is employed by the cotemporary Hellenising Jew
Josephus,^ as well as by the classical writers : and, which
25 John iiL 5.
26 Tit. iii. 5.
27 vraXtyyiviirta. — Matt. xix. 28.
28 When Zorobabel obtained the decree of Darius permitting the build-
ing of the temple, the Jews on hearing the intelligence feasted for seven
days. T»»y etvaxrinffi^ ««< taXiyyinffiuv rrji vrarptios ieprei^ovris. — Ant. Jud.
lib. 11. cap. 3.
77
is still more to our purpose, it was also accepted with this
meaning by the early Christian church, as appears from a
passage in Clemenfs epistle.^^ The word regeneration
conveyed the idea of a new and improved state of things in
nations, and an amended course of life in individuals in all
these instances. Can a doubt then remain that by it and its
equivalent, in the passages before us, we are to understand
that course of external obedience to the divine commands,
which the gospel requires, and upon which the convert
first enters, through the waters of baptism ? By regenera-
tion in the font, therefore, the Spirit of God indicated the
profession of purpose to lead a new life, which the act of
submission to the rite of baptism implies : with no refer-
ence to the inward grace of that sacrament, which is also
expressed in both places ; in the one, by a figure of easy
comprehension, ''■being horn of the Spirit f in the other,
by a phrase divested of all metaphorical allusion, " the
renewing of the Holy Ghosts
We now comprehend, without difficulty, the nature
of baptism. — It is the divinely appointed rite of initiation
into the Christian religion ; occupying (as the Scriptures
inform us^) under the gospel dispensation, the place of
circumcision under the law ; both which ceremonies are
therefore equal in point of obligation, upon those to whom
they were respectively imparted, as initiatory rites. They
likewise closely resemble each other in the figurative
meaning attached to them ; both are acts of bodily purifi-
29 "isBcZi 9ri?'os ivpiB-ih, ^/a 'Tfis Xumpyias aurS •xocXtyyiviffioiv Kofy^eo
iKvipvliv. — 2d. Cor. c. 9.
30 Col. ii. 11 — 13. Baptism is often opposed to Circumcision by the
early fathers See Just. Dial. Tryph. 261. D. Tertullian calls Baptism
signaculum fidei^ de Spec. c. 24., and Circumcision signaculum corporis., Apol.
c. 21. Ka't riirn (iocrTuf/^a koyo; ti/aTv, yi oK]c(,rifjbipoi TiptTOfih, ru-XiKrtrii vffoc,
fffpxyi; Greg. Naz. Orat. 40. p. 638. B., Op. Vol. I.
fB
cation, shadowing forth a similar act upon the heart, by
the divine agency : — ^but, neither in the one case nor the
other, do we perceive the slightest scripture ground for
concluding, that this inward grace necessarily and irrespec-
tively accompanies the outward sign.
We will proceed to the examination of the opinions
entertained by the early Christian writers, upon the subject
of baptism.
No allusion to it occurs in the first epistle of Clement:
but in the second (which, though of somewhat doubtful
authenticity, is, nevertheless, a very ancient production)
we find the following passage: — "If Noah, Job, and
Daniel were not able by their righteousness to deliver their
children, how can we hope to enter into the kingdom of
God, unless we keep our baptism pure and undefiled.""^^ —
He obviously uses baptism, for the profession of Christi-
anity signified thereby. — And that he so understood it, we
have further assurance from a succeeding passage; wherein,
exhorting to the same act in different words, he calls bap-
tism " a seal ;'"^^ that is the seal or token of the Christian
profession ; the figure that St. Paul uses, in speaking of
circumcision :^ implying the writer's conviction of the
spiritual identity of the two ordinances.
St. Barnabas styles this sacrament, '' the baptism that
leads to remission of sins,"^ to distinguish it from the bap-
tisms of the Jews :^ for, in their preference of these ceremo-
nies to the gospel, he finds the literal fulfilment of Jer. ii.
31 Clem. 2 ad Cor. § 7-
32 Id. 10. Keep your bodies pure, and your seal without spot. — ///
Herm. 9. § 16. " Signaculum lavacri."— r^r/. de Pudic. c. 8.
33 Rom. iv. 11. The apostle also applies this metaphor to the inward
grace of baptism. — Eph. i. 13, ^c.
34 ro (ictTliO'fAX ro (pipov iis a^nn* ufAuprtu¥.—~>i. Bar. Epis. C. II.
35 Mar. 7. 4.
79
12, 13. This weak and fanciful, but very pious, author en-
tertained perfectly scriptural notions upon this subject, as
we discover in another passage of the same chapter ; where,
in commenting upon the first Psalm, he strikes out from the
expression, " he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water," (ver. 2.) the following, not very obvious, mean-
ing, "blessed are they who, putting their trust in the
cross,^ descend into the waters (of baptism ;") thus unequi-
vocally declaring, that faith in the receiver was the condi-
tion of the blessing. A little further on, in the course of
a still more foolish comment, he thus beautifully describes
the outward and inward change which the believing recep-
tion of this rite confers. — " We go down into the water
full of sins and pollutions, but we come up again, bringing
forth fruit ; having in our hearts the fear and love that is
in Jesus Christ, by the Spirit."
In the epistles of Ignatius, there is but one passage
wherein he alludes to baptism ; it occurs in that to Poly-
carp i^-^ " let your baptism remain as your shield,^ your faith
as your helmet, your love as your spear, your patience as
your coat armour." It was therefore, in his apprehension,
the token of the Christian profession : a view of the ordi-
nance, identical with that which we have already noticed
in St. Clement, as well as in the canonical writers.
In the dull and silly visions of Hermas, which are
equally devoid of imagination and of wisdom, we, not-
withstanding, recognise a book which exercised a powerful
influence over the early church. — Consequently, it is im-
36 iTi Tu IuXm. The early fathers were greatly delighted with the
equivoque which the two meanings of this word afforded : it is used in
the New Testament for " the cross" and " a tree."
37 §6.
38 flVx« ; scutum, old Latin Version.
I
portant that we should investigate the views regarding
baptism, which he intended to convey by his clumsy alle-
gories. There is an acknowledged allusion to it in the
first vision of the tower,^^ which is a wretched attempt to
allegorise the metaphor of St. Peter."^*^ The tower, the
erection of which is to illustrate the progress of Christian-
ity, is founded in water ;"*^ and the interpreter informs the
dreamer, that it is thus built, " because your life is, and
shall be, saved by water.''''^^ Through this water, all the
living stones that constitute the building must pass : — some
of these, " appeared very desirous to roll into the water,
but could not ;''''^ the interpreter afterwards explains to
him, that, " these were such as had heard the word and
were willing to be baptized in the name of the Lord ; but
considering the great holiness which the truth requires,
they withdrew themselves."'^ He also saw that, after the
stones had been passed by the angels who collected them,
through the baptismal waters, and lay on the ground,
they underwent a trial or ordeal, before they were fitted
into the building. The round stones, that is, the rich,
were hewn square ;^^ the rugged and cracked ones were
polished : and certain stones were even cut off and cast
far away from the tower.**^ He could not have laid down
more plainly the scripture doctrine, that the inward
grace of baptism is conditional, not upon the right admi-
nistration of the ceremony, but upon the mental state of
the receiver.
In the same spirit, I conceive, he elsewhere speaks of
the repentance, or change of mind, that takes place, when
we go down into the water and receive the '* remission of
39 I Hermas, Vis. 3. 40 i Pgt. ii. 4, 5. 41 id. §s. 2, 7.
42 Id. § 7. See 1 Pet. iii. 21. 43 § 2. a. f. 44 § 7.
45 § 6. 46 § 2.
81
our sins," — for immediately afterwards he tells us, that
" remission of sins is given to those only that believe.''^^
He also calls baptism a ''great and holy vocation;" an
expression which harmonises perfectly with the notion of
baptism as a token of external profession.
In the same place he states, that there is repentance
for one sin after baptism, and only for one :'*^ an opinion
so utterly at variance with the whole of the evangelical
doctrine regarding the forgiveness of sins, that it is sur-
prising it should ever have been entertained. — It could
not be but that such an error should produce evil. At
the time it is said to have had the effect of causing
IB many to defer their baptism until the very article of
death :^ but it inflicted a more permanent evil upon the
church of Christ, in that it gave to the baptismal office
a place in the Christian economy more exalted than that
which the Holy Ghost had assigned to it. The following
passage from the second vision of the Tower,^*^ which is a
further attempt and more at large upon the same allegory
as the first, is still more obnoxious to this censure : " And
I said," (that is, the dreamer,) " Sir," (interpreter,) " why
did these stones come out of the deep and were placed in
the building of this tower, seeing that they died long
ago.?" He answered, " it was necessary for these prophets
47 II Hermas, Com. 4. § 3.
48 This opinion was believed in the church long afterwards. Tertul-
lian maintained it. — De Baptis., c. 18. Clement of Alexandria certainly
favours it : see his comment upon the passage of Hermas referred to in
the text: — 2 Strom., §13.: though elsewhere he takes a different view of
the subject. Sin, before baptism, he supposes to be remitted ; sin, after
baptism, to be expurgated by the chastisement of the offender.— 4 Strom.,
§ 24. That the error likewise prevailed nearly two centuries later ; see
Gregory of Nazianzum. Oral. E/j ro olytov 'BxTlta-f^.a. P. 642. A.
49 See Greg. Naz. ubi supra, p. 643. D., 647- A., 648. A., &c.
50 III Hermas, Simil. 9.
Q
82
and teachers to ascend by water that they might be at
rest : — for they could not otherwise enter into the kingdom
of God ; they, therefore, being dead, were sealed with the
seal of the Son of God, which seal is the waters of bap-
tism :"^^ that is, the Old Testament saints were baptized
after the coming of Christ, and therefore after their own
death, in order that they enter into their rest. The ten-
dency of this strange absurdity to aggravate the evil of
the former error is sufficiently obvious.
The church, then, even at this early period, though
perfectly orthodox in her doctrine upon the nature of the
sacrament of baptism, had, notwithstanding, opened the
door of error, by giving an unscriptural and unseemly
prominence to the mere outward ceremony.
This mistake fell in exactly with the temper of the
times that followed ; and did not fail to take root down-
wards and bear fruit upwards. The sentiments of the
fathers of the second century well illustrate its growth
and progress.
Justin Martyr, the first professor of philosophical
Christianism whose writings are still extant, gives the
following account of baptism in his first Apology : '' We
will now explain the manner wherein we dedicate ourselves
to God, being made anew*^ in Christ Jesus. As many as
are persuaded and believe that what we teach is true, and
undertake to conform their lives to our doctrine, are
instructed to fast and pray, and entreat from God the
remission of their past sins,^ we fasting and praying
together with them. They are then conducted to a place
51 § 1 6. This notion probably arose from a misapprehension of 1 Cor.
XV. 29.
53 « Ingressuros baptismum, orationibus crebris, jejunils et genicula-
tionibus orare opportet."— Terft*//. de BapHs., c. 20.
83
where there is water, and are regenerated by the same mode
of regeneration^* as that wherewith we were regenerated ;
for they are immersed in the water^^ in the name of the
Father and Lord of the Universe, and of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost."^ It is pleasant to
find from this passage, that the early church required not
only faith in the neophyte, but faith exercising itself in
the devotional acts of fasting and prayer ; and moreover,
an express undertaking on his part to conform his future
life to the Christian doctrine. Not a doubt, therefore, can
remain, that she was perfectly correct in her apprehension
of the necessity of faith in the receiver, before baptism
could be spiritually profitable.^^ We also admit, that under
such circumstances, she had reason to hope that, in the
majority of instances, the outward sign of baptism would
be accompanied by the inward grace. But, nevertheless,
there is a confusion, or rather identification, of the one with
the other in the expressions here made use of, which is
utterly destitute of scriptural authority/^ Immediately
afterwards also, he calls baptism '' illumination,*"^^ a mode
of speech which is liable to the same objection. There is
not a more copious source of inconvenience and error than
^^ avayivTiffius.
^ \v rS v^art kurpov Totvvrai.
56 Just. Apol. I., p. 93. D. e. s.
57 It will be observed that the agency of the Spirit is altogether over-
looked in this passage ; I lay no stress upon this omission in so loose and
inaccurate a writer as Justin. He certainly was orthodox in his opinion
upon this point. — See Dial. 246. C. rls Ikuvh r5 fiecrlia-fieijos (that is, the
ceremonial washings) XP-'""' «^7'V Tn6fji,ari (hilict'T]ifffjt.ivu -,
58 Potestatem regenerationis in Deum mandans discipulis dicebat eis:
Euntes, &c., Matt, xxviii. 19 Irenceus^ adv. Hasr. 3., c. 19.
59 Id., p. 94. D. <puri(ffi,os. I suspect that the views of Justin were
in accordance with the Alexandrian school in regard of the double doctrine;
which will account for his applying this epistle to baptism. — Vide infra, p. 92.
84
these departures from scripture phraseology, in treating
upon matters whereof we know nothing but from thence.
The grievous misapprehensions which have originated in
both these instances we shall soon discover.
Irenaeus writes thus upon the nature of baptism :
" The Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit was imparted that
the gate of life might be opened to all nations ; that in all
languages a hymn to God might be sung in unison — the
Spirit uniting men of distant tribes in one, and oiFering
them to the Father, the first-fruits of all nations. On
this account also, the Lord promised that he would send
the Paraclete who should make us one with God. For, as
dry meal cannot be kneaded into one mass nor made one
bread without moisture, so, neither can we, being many,
be made one in Christ Jesus without the water which is
from heaven : and as a dry and thirsty land if it have no
rain produces nothing, so we, being by nature^ dry trees,
can never bear fruit unto life unless the showers of grace
descend upon us from heaven.^^ For our bodies have
received the unity of incorruption by baptism ; our souls
by the Spirit : wherefore, both are needful, since both are
profitable unto the life of God through the mercy of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.'*''^^ Here, for the first time,
so far as I know, we are told of a benefit to the body from
the external rite of baptism, totally distinct from the
inward grace.^ It is needless to observe that this opinion
is altogether destitute of sanction from the inspired wri-
60 Primum.
61 " Superna voluntaria pluvia ;" the LXX. rendering of Psa. Ixviii. 9.
fipoxvv ittiffieti. Heb. ma"T3 DB^3.
62 Adv. Haer. lib. 3. 19., p. 243. e. s.
63 Tertullian also entertained this notion of the incorruptibility com-
municated to the body by baptism. — De Res. Car. c. 47.
85
tings : I am not able to point out the passage of Scripture
out of which such a meaning could be tortured.
The voluminous remains of the eloquent and fiery
enthusiast Tertullian, afford ample materials for ascertain-
ing the opinions of the early church, regarding this sacra-
ment. His writings abound with allusions to it ; and
we have, moreover, a controversial tract, composed ex-
pressly in its defence, which embodies nearly the whole of
his doctrine of baptism. It is written against Quintilla,
a female who denied the necessity of the ordinance. He
commences,^^ with more zeal than courtesy, by calling
names ;^ Quintilla is a most venomous viper and asp who,
like those reptiles, delights in arid places without water :
" but we little fishes are born in the water through Jesus
Christ our fish.*^ Nor can we be saved otherwise than by
remaining therein. Yea, this most monstrous Quintilla
well knows that the way to kill little fishes is to take them
out of the water."' He goes on, (c. 2.) to premise, that no-
thing hardens men''s minds more than the inadequacy of
cause to effect in the divine operations. — "As here, so sim-
64 De Baptismo, c. 1.
65 An ordinary mode of procedure with our author. — See adv. Marc.
I. 1., adv. Hermogenem, c. c. 1, 27, &c. The sketch of a crabbed logic-
chopper in this last passage is wonderfully correct ; still more so is the
commencement of the tract, contra Gnosticos : where he compares Nicander,
the heretic to a scorpion, drawing back the hamatile spiculum, the hooked
sting at its knotted tail, in act to strike — Such is his fearful fidelity to
nature, that the reptile absolutely lives. — I doubt that a finer specimen of
graphic writing can be found any where.
66 7;i^B-vs, a fish. — An acrostic from the Greek sentence, 'n^irSs xP*^°f
S-sff uios irarrip, which would be thus abbreviated, i. x- ^' "• ?• '^^^^ con-
temptible and disgusting quibble originated in certain verses of one of the
pseudo-sibyls, the Erythraean See Onuph. de Sibyll.^ p. 27 : also Sib, Orac,
lib. 8. p. 380., Ed. Lut., 1697. I know of no figure which so revoltingly
degrades the person of the Son of God.
86
ply, without pomp, with no apparatus of novelty or expense,
a man merely descends into the water, is immersed while a
few words are pronounced, and then comes forth, little, if
at all, cleaner than before : that any eternal consequence
should follow the performance of such an act is deemed
incredible ! — While, on the other hand, the splendour and
expense of the heathen rites obtained for them credence
and authority ! Wretched unbelief ! which denies to God
his own attributes, simplicity and power. — What then ? is
it not a wonderful thing that death should be dissolved in
the laver ? Surely it is so ; but is that a reason why it
should not be believed ? For what ought the divine ope-
rations to be, but admirable beyond all conception ? We
also wonder, but it is because we believe. — Incredulity
wonders and disbelieves ; it wonders at simple acts as
though they were vain and foolish ; and at magnificent
effects as if they were impossible." He next proceeds,
(c. 3.) to show the dignity of the element of water, and
its fitness to communicate spiritual blessings ; he finds this
in Gen. i. 1, 2. The antiquity of water constitutes its
worthiness to be the seat of the Divine Spirit above the
other elements. — " For the entire darkness was without
form, not decked with stars, and the abyss was sad, and
the earth unprepared, and the heavens rude ; water alone,
always perfect, glad, simple, pure in its own nature, ex-
panded itself before God, a throne worthy of himself." He
proceeds to assert that all things, when first modelled by
the hand of their Creator, were tempered with water. He
shows that, in the work of creation, the disposition of the
waters was first attended to. Gen. i. 6, 9. ; and that the
waters were first called upon to produce living beings,''^
67 « God, in the work of creation, blessed the creatures inhabiting the
waters, to show that hereafter all who come to the truth and are rege-
87
vv. 20 — 22. He finds, that water must also have been an
agent in the creation of man ; for he was formed of earth,
which is only plastic when moistened : " and as the waters
had left the land only the day but one before, the earth
would of course be in a state of mud or slime." He infers
that water was thus extensively honoured and employed by
God, in order to fit it for sacramental purposes. " The first
consecration (c. 4.) of the element took place at the crea-
tion, when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. On that occasion the holy was borne upon the
holy ; or rather, that which bore derived sanctity from
that which was borne upon it." — This he supposes to have
taken place by mechanical intercommunication of particles
between two subtle bodies in contact.^ " Hence it is, that
all water, whether in the sea or in a river, whether running
or standing, is equally proper for the rite of baptism. —
Whether John baptize in Jordan, or Peter in the Tiber,
or Philip in a pool by the road side, the waters of each
equally attained to the sacrament of sanctification,^^ when
the name of God was invoked over them. — For the Spirit
immediately supervenes from heaven, and broods upon the
waters and sanctifies them from himself; and so they,
being sanctified, imbibe the power of sanctification." — After
a remark or two on the detergent properties of water he
nerated and receive a blessing from God, shall obtain repentance and remis-
sion of sins through water and the laver of regeneration." — Theophilus
Antioch. ad Aut. lib. 2. 95. B,
68 The notions of spiritual existence which obtained in Tertullian's
time were exceedingly gross. Our author assures us that " the soul is ca-
pable of being grasped in the hand, soft, shining, transparent, and in form
exactly resembling the body." — De Animd, c. 9. See also above, pp. 46, 52,
the opinions upon the substance of angels and demons.
69 " Sacrainentum sanctificationis." Justin Martyr also connects sanc-
tification with baptism. — Dial. 314.-4.
88
concludes thus ; '' the waters then are medicated, in a
manner, by the intervention of an angel,'^^ and the Spirit is
corporeally dissolved in the water and the flesh is thereby
spiritually purified.'"
Further on, (c. 6.) he informs us that we do not
obtain the Spirit in the water, but we are there fitted for
receiving him through the agency of the angel whom he
terms " angelus baptismi arbiter,*" who is the precursor of
the Holy Ghost, as John was of Christ, and prepares his
way before him by washing away the offences of the sinner
in the waters of baptism. The ceremony of the Chrism
succeeded that of immersion ; this he justifies by the
example of Moses and Aaron ; and then came the confirm-
ation, or impositio manuum, during which the Holy Spirit
was invoked and communicated.'^^ The same previous
course of fasting and prayer was required in the pre-
parandi for baptism as in Justin's time, c. 20.7^ jj^ ^Iso
especially cautions the clergy against the rash administra-
tion of the rite. The cases of the Eunuch, and St.
Paul,^^ he considers exempt ones, wherein the minister was
made acquainted with the mind of God by inspiration.
'' This delay,"" he proceeds, " is serviceable to the condi-
tion and disposition of all, but especially is it expedient in
the case of little ones : for what necessity is there that the
sponsors should be exposed to the danger either of failing
70 See John v. 4., to which there is an allusion here.
71 It is remarkable, that the advocates of the irrespective communica-
tion of spiritual blessings in infant baptism should have overlooked this
important circumstance. Now that the two rites are separated, it is at
confirmation, not at baptism, that they should look for inward regeneration,
to be in accordance with the early church, for whose authority they plead
so loudly.
72 See above, p. 82.
73 Act. viii. and ix.
89
in their promise through death, or of falling into error in
the education of their charge ? The Lord says, indeed,
' forbid them not to come unto me."*^* Let them come,
then, when they are of age, let them come that they may
learn, when they come that they may be taught : let them
become Christians when they are capable of knowing
Christ. — Why does the age of innocence hasten to the
remission of sins ?'^ More caution is observed in secular
matters ; shall we then entrust those with heavenly riches
whom we do not consider competent to the possession of
earthly goods ? Let them first learn to seek them, that it
may appear ye give to those that ask."
The first inference that presents itself on perusing
this passage is, that the writer knew nothing of the modern
notion of baptismal regeneration : the idea had obviously
never occurred to him that the inward grace necessarily
accompanies the right administration of the outward sign :
else, why recommend delay in all cases, in order that
the officiating minister might be well assured of the state
of mind of the candidate :^^ or reprove the prevailing prac-
tice of infant baptism, because of the necessary departure
from this recommendation which it involves ? But not-
withstanding, we no where find more lamentable proofs of
the rapid growth of the error regarding baptism, than in
the present author. The efficacy of the outward rite, per
74 Matt. xix. 14.
75 The Bishop of Lincoln is of opinion that this expression is incon-
sistent with Tertullian's sentiments upon original sin, as expressed in other
parts of his works. — Eccl. Hist. c. 5., p. 325.
76 " Si qui pondus intelligunt baptismi, magis tenebunt consecutionem
quam dilationem." — De Baptism, c. 18. He also informs us elsewhere that
faith was needful to the efficacy of baptism ; as in the tract de Resurrect.
Cam. c. 42., where he defines baptismal resurrection, that is, regeneration,
to be, " vita quae ex fide per baptisma in novitate vivenda est."
se, which Irenaeus only hints at, TertuUian broadly states,
and assigns two reasons for it : — the first of them is
evidently the old philosophical notion of the supenor
excellence of the element of water, in a Christian dressJ^
TertuUian, like the other authors of this century, had
been a heathen philosopher ; he threw aside his heathenism,
but, though by no means erring in this direction to the
extent of some of them, he did not, or would not, perceive
that Christianity required the sacrifice of his philosophy
also. — He gives another reason for the efficacy of the out-
ward rite in baptism ; the agency of the baptismal angel :
for this he is indebted to that fabulous system of demo-
nology wherewith (as we have seen) Christianity was so
early intermingled and corrupted.
Clement of Alexandria, a writer greatly the inferior
of TertuUian, both in the force and vigour of his con-
ceptions and in the orderly arrangement of his thoughts,
has written much, but really said very little, upon bap-
tism. The following passage, however, will show that he
yielded to none of his cotemporaries in the high estima-
tion in which he held the outward rite : after asserting
that our Saviour was necessitated to submit to baptism,
as the only means whereby he could have been perfected
and consecrated by the advent of the Spirit, he proceeds
thus,^^ — " That, then, whereof the Lord was the exem-
plar, comes to pass also in us. — When we are baptized we
are enlightened ; when we are enlightened we are made
sons ; when we are made sons we are perfected ; when
we are perfected we become immortal. This operation is
77 'Api^ev fjXv v'^up.—Vind.. Olym. I. 1. ei^^n ^vi ruv •rctvreav tliup vm^ri-
tretra (o SaXrisJ fca) riv KofffAtv 'i/i-y^v'^ov k») ^at/uiveifv frA.)9^n-— Diog. Laert.
lib. 1., p. 18.
78 Pad. I. 6.
91
named variously, grace, illumination, perfection, or com-
pletion, the laver.^^ The laver, wherein our sins are
washed away ; grace, whereby the punishments due to our
sins are remitted ; illumination, whereby we behold the
holy and saving light : that is, whereby we discern divine
things. We call that perfect to which nothing is wanting :
— and what doth he want who knows God ?'' After some
remarks upon perfection he returns to baptism, — " He who
is regenerated and illuminated, is immediately delivered
(as the word imports) from darkness, and sees the light
from that time ; for as they who undertake to remove a
cataract from the eye, do not supply the organ with an
external light which it had not before, but only remove an
opacity in order that the pupil may be free to receive the
impression of light, so, when we are baptized, our sins,
which like a mist darkened the Divine Spirit, are dispel-
led, and the eye of the soul is clear, and unclouded, and
brilliant ; by this alone we discern divine things when the
Holy Ghost pours down upon us from heaven : this is
the immortal eye-water which fits the eye to gaze upon
immortal light.""*^ Then follows a digression at some
length upon light as identified with knowledge, and dark-
ness with ignorance ; after which he returns once more to
baptism. — " But the chains of ignorance are soon struck
off, by faith in man and grace from God : that is, when
our sins are remitted by the one salutary^^ medicine, even
baptism, according to the word.^^ For then we are
79 kUTpOV.
80 There is an exactly similar figure in Tertullian, de Baptismo, c 41.
— *' Proinde cum ad fidem pervenit (anima) reformata per secundam nativi-
tatem ex aqua et superna virtute detracto corruptionis pristinae aulaeo ;
totam lucem suam conspicit."
81 Tecuvio;. There is an allusion here to one of the names of Apollo.
82 XoyiKu (oxTJiirfAaTt.
m
washed from all our sins, and walk no more in evil ways :
for this is one of the graces of illumination that our man-
ner of life is no longer that which it was before we were
washed.*" He then proceeds to enforce the necessity of
that system of previous catechetical discipline used by the
early church, on the ground that it leads to faith; *' and that
faith as well as baptism is needful, the Holy Spirit himself
teaches.''"* After another digression upon the necessity of
faith, not unmixed with his own peculiar errors, wherein
he quotes and comments upon Gal. iii. 23 — 29, he thus
concludes his account of baptism, — '' Nor is there any im-
propriety in calling good thoughts the infiltrations^ of the
Holy Ghost. For that may be called filtration which
precipitates evil thoughts from the mind by the remem-
brance of good ones; but he who returns to better thoughts
necessarily repents him of his former evils ; and it is
acknowledged that the Spirit himself brings back those
who come to repentance. In like manner we also, repent-
ing of our former sins, renouncing our evil courses, and
being percolated by baptism, are brought back to the
eternal light, as sons to the Father."" We observe here
exactly the same opinions regarding the necessity of faith
to the beneficial reception of the ordinance as in the pre-
ceding writers ; and we also discover the same notions of
an efficacy in the outward rite, perfectly independent of
the Spirit's influences, still more forcibly illustrated. But
in addition to this, the present writer greatly exaggerates
the inward grace of the sacrament. With him it is not
merely spiritual regeneration or change of heart, as the
Scriptures define it ; but it is illumination,^ perfection,
83 ^ivXia-fiav. The same gross notion of spiritual existence as in Ter-
tuUian. See above, Note G8.
84 Elsewhere he informs us the origin of the application of this epithet
93
r
B immortality ; in a word, it is the entire life of Ood in the "^J^^
soul of man, from its commencement to its consummation. • ^%^
Incomprehensibly strange as this notion may seem to a4fjj^, ^'^
modern reader, it was held by the philosopher of Alex-
andria as an important part of his theological system ;
I and his purpose in thus framing it, was to make room for
the secret or gnostical doctrines, by merging as much of
ordinary Bible Christianity as possible in the baptismal
font.
We proceed to our summary of the opinions enter-
tained by the church regarding baptism at the close of the
^K second century : and here we cannot refrain from expressing
our astonishment at the rapid progress which has been made
by the error of the preceding era. Then we had merely
to complain that the outward sign was somewhat displaced
^B in relative importance : — now the baptismal waters have
^^ acquired a power of communicating both material and spiri-
tual blessings, altogether independent of the present agency
of the Holy Ghost and of the inward grace ; residing in
the inherent holiness of the element of water, and in the
agency of an angel. The whole sacrament has also risen
very far above the place in Christianity which the Bible
had assigned to it. Instead of being the merely initiatory
rite of Christ's religion, the outward sign of spiritual rege-
^m ration, it has become illumination, perfection, yea, immor-
to baptism: "Among the barbarous philosophers, to catechise and illuminate
their disciples, is called to regenerate them."— 5 Strom., § 2. ^apa roig
(iaff[id^ois (piXoffcxpoiiy to x.aj}]^^a-ai ri xat (pairiffut ocvoiyivvyifoti Xiyiroii. This
passage is likewise important as establishing past the possibility of doubt,
the sense in which these writers understood the words translated 'rege-
neration,' which corresponds exactly with that we have endeavoured to
gather from other sources (pp. 76, e. s.) Any act denoting a change for
the better in state, or profession, or sentiment, they would have termed,
regeneration.
94
tality ! We have pointed out the various mistakes in
which these false doctrines have originated ; and, by the
invariable process of error producing error, they, in their
turn, gave rise also to other false doctrines. In the fate of
these last, we again recognise that unaccountable principle
which so deeply influenced the theology of those times,
and which we have already endeavoured to develope; —
viz., that the detection of the parent error should in no
degree affect the erroneous conclusions which had been
drawn from it. Of the working of this principle the false
doctrine of baptism furnishes us with an apt illustration.
— The ordinance continued to be regarded as illumina-
tion,^ when the Pagan absurdity of a double doctrine was
long ago forgotten. The baptismal element retained its
spiritual efficacy long after Tertullian'*s angel of baptism
had taken his flight.
But notwithstanding the extent which the error
regarding the outward rite attained in the second century,
we have shown, by quoting from each author an explicit
avowal of the necessity of faith in the candidate, an unan-
swerable proof that the doctrine of irrespective baptismal
regeneration was altogether unknown at that period : but
in these errors it certainly originated, though to pursue
them through succeeding centuries until this opinion was
fully elicited, is not the scope of the present enquiry. We
may, however, state in few words, that it was in the change
that took place in the age of the candidates for baptism,
after Christianity became the established religion of the
Roman empire, that the proximate cause of its elicitation is
85 Thus Cyprian : de suo Baptis., Ep. 2. ; Chrysostom : Catach. ad
illuminandos de baptismo. See also the Oration, or rather rant^ of Gre-
gory of Nazianzum, ubi supra. The font is called indifferently (purtrrripiov
and (iecrh^rvpiov in the baptismal offices of nearly all the ancient liturgies.
^ 95
to be found. While Christianity was still in progress, the
baptism of adults would entirely occupy the attention of the
church ; because, though the infant children of converts,
as well as the rest of their household, were baptized with
their parents ; and though the infants of Christians were in
like manner presented at the font, yet the number of such
was too inconsiderable to attract any special notice beyond
the mild rebuke of Tertullian, at the close of the second
century. ^^ But when Christianity was widely diffused
throughout the empire, adult and infant baptism would
necessarily change places, in point of importance ; cases
of the latter being of daily occurrence, while the former
would be seldom heard of. Such was undoubtedly the
86 That infant baptism was an apostolic practice is evident from the
following considerations : —
1. — The constant comparisons of baptism with circumcision which
occur in the early writers ; (see p. 77? note 30 :) had the one rite differed from
the other in so material a point as that, while the one was by express
ordinance administered to infants of eight days, the other was reserved
exclusively for those who had come to years of understanding, as the
antipsedobaptists contend, the resemblance between them would have been
so faint as hardly to have admitted of the comparison.
2. — We have no mention whatever in any of the early Christian
authors of the introduction of the practice of infant baptism ; neither did
the question of infant or adult baptism ever originate a schism, or even a
controversy, in the early church ; had such been the case, it would un-
doubtedly have been recorded somewhere in the cotemporary writings, so
many of which are entirely devoted to the exposure of the errors in doctrine
and discipline which arose in those times.
3 — Notwithstanding, that the practice was universally prevalent, the
citation from Tertullian in the text affords unanswerable evidence ; had it
been otherwise, he would not have failed to point out the introducer of the
custom by name, and set him up as a mark for those " arrows, even bitter
1 words," which he discharges in such copious showers at every other heretic.
— It will also be observed that his objections to infant baptism are altogether
founded upon the erroneous notions regarding the efficacy of the outward
rite with which he was embued.
96
,*■
state of things in the fourth century : yet the mistaken
views of the independent efficacy of the outward rite, the
origin and progress of which we have endeavoured to trace
through the first and second centuries, then also prevailed
universally, and in an exaggerated form, if that be pos-
sible.^7 Now it was not easy to predicate that faith in the
candidate for which the early fathers contended, of infants,
whose reasoning faculties were undeveloped ; yet were in-
fants then almost the only partakers of the baptismal
sacrament. — The inevitable consequence was that this most
important condition was gradually lost sight of : we per-
ceive less and less of it as we proceed downwards with the
stream of the patristical writers, until at length it vanishes
altogether. This removed the only impediment to the
indissoluble union of the two parts of the sacrament, and
hence arose baptismal regeneration ; an error which, ori-
ginating in some of the earliest departures from scrip-
tural truth, has rooted itself in the very heart of all the
ancient churches, and from which even Protestantism, and
at this day, is far, very far, from being expurgated.
87 See Greg. Naz., u. s., p. 643. C.
CHAPTER VII.
THE EUCHARIST.
The sacrament of the Eucharist is the remaining pledge of
obedience which our Lord hath required of those who pro-
fess themselves his disciples, in the way of ordinance or
ceremony. When we contrast this with the burdensome
round of observances from which his religion delivered its
first converts, both Jews and Gentiles, we shall be able to
comprehend the force of the apostle's description of his
commandments, " they are not grievous.""^ Upon this
occasion also, observing our accustomed order, we com-
mence our examination with a careful review of the
testimony of the Word of God to the nature of the sacra-
ment. Of the institution of the Holy Eucharist we can
render no account so clear and succinct as in the very
words of inspiration. — " Now the first day of the feast of
unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto
him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the
passover ? And he said, Go into the city to such a man,
and say unto him. The Master saith. My time is at hand ;
I will keep the passover in thy house with my disciples.
And the disciples did as Jesus appointed them ; and they
made ready the passover. Now when the even was come,
he sat down with the twelve. And as they were eating,
1 1 John V. 3.
H
98 m
Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it
to his disciples, and said, Take, eat ; this is my body. And
he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them,
saying. Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins."^ " This do in remembrance of me."^ Here is an
evident allusion to the paschal lamb, of whose flesh they
had just partaken, and with the blood of which the door-
posts of the house were sprinkled, according to the law : *
— the feast of which it was the ceremonial, having been
founded in remembrance of the deliverance of Israel in
Egypt from the destroying angel. The disciples were
familiar with the purport of the figure employed by our
Lord ; for long before, in the synagogue at Capernaum, he
had denoted that vital union and communion with himself,
which constitutes the hidden life of the true believer in his
doctrine, by the same highly metaphorical expression ; ^ —
" Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life." ' Here, then, I appoint a sign of this mys-
tery : I am the lamb of God that taketh away the sins
of the world ; do this, not in remembrance of the deli-
verance from the sword of the destroying angel in Egypt,
but in remembrance of that greater deliverance from the
guilt and dominion of sin which, by my body offered, and
my blood poured out, I am about to accomplish for all
that believe in me.** This paraphrase is sufficiently obvi-
ous, and the passage itself does not appear beset with any
peculiar difficulties : though, to judge from the many
senses in which it has been understood, no part of Scrip-
ture would seem to be of more doubtful interpretation. —
Three of these senses still number many adherents in the
2 Matt. xxvi. 17—20, 26—28. 3 Luke xxii. 19.
4 Exod. xii., &c. 5 John vi. 48 — 58.
I
visible church. According to the earliest of them (in point
of claim to antiquity) the elements themselves are actually
transmuted ; they become the very body and blood of
Christ, by a miraculous and divine energy. Another section
of the church teaches, that the elements are consubstanti-
ated with the real presence, by being therewith incorporated
or kneaded up. The third opinion (the abettors of which
were once called Sacramentarians) propounds, in the un-
improveable language of Hooker, that " the real presence
of Christ's most blessed body and blood is not to be sought
for in the sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the
sacrament."^ Exactly the same presumption in favour of
the latter opinion, will be found here as in the controversy
regarding baptism : but let us rather look for direction
and guidance to that Word, which is declared to be a light
unto the feet and a lamp unto the paths of those who with
faith and diligence search therein. — *' If we doubt at all
what these admirable words may import, let our Lord's
apostle be his own interpreter ; (1 Cor. x. 16.) ' my body,'
the communion of my body ; ' my blood,' the communion
of my blood. Is there any thing more expedite, clear,
and easy, than, that as Christ is termed our life because
through him we obtain life, so the parts of this sacrament
are his body and blood ; for that they are so to us who,
receiving them, receive that by them which they are termed.
The bread and cup are his body and blood, because they
are causes instrumental, upon receipt whereof his body
and blood ensueth."^
That such also was the apostolic teaching regarding
this sacrament, will further appear from the mode of
celebrating it which had obtained at Corinth, and which
St. Paul in the same epistle reproves ; the Eucharist, with
6 Eccl. Pol., b. 5. § 67., p. 5. 7 Hooker, u. s.
100 W
them, partook of the character of a social repast rather
than of a religious ordinance : — a mistake altogether incre-
dible, upon the supposition that they had been taught that,
in that ordinance, they literally and corporeally manducated
and swallowed the very body and blood of Christ. Here,
then, at any rate, we have no doubtful or recondite mean-
ings to search out ; for the light of revelation that shines
upon this question is steady, and clear, and bright as the
noon-day sun. No fact is more perfectly apparent than
that the grosser notions regarding the sacrament of the
Eucharist are altogether destitute of sanction or authority
from the Word of God. But, as we have already stated,
one of them, tran substantiation, lays claim to a very high
antiquity. We will once more turn our attention to the
early Christian authors, if, perchance, we may discover
there the germ of this error also.
In the epistle of Clement of Rome, I find the follow-
ing passage : — " For the love that he bore towards us, our
Lord Jesus Christ gave his blood for our blood, his flesh
for our flesh, his soul for our souls.""^
To this mode of stating the doctrine of the atonement
I object, that it is altogether unsanctioned by the inspired
writings. — 1 find it every where proclaimed that Christ
gave himself for us ; but no where do I discover that his
all-sufficient sacrifice was in this grossly literal sense vica-
rious. Should the question be urged upon me, where is
the great harm, nevertheless, of such an expression ? I
answer : that I hold all revealed truths to be above the
comprehension of the human intellect ; and therefore,
that all additions to them, whether originating in its rea-
soning or imaginative faculties, are necessarily false, and
on that account evil, both in themselves and in their con-
8 C. 49.
^ 101
sequences. Nor is there any thing in the instance be-
fore us which otherwise than confirms this position. The
doctrine of the atonement was presented to the early
church, upon an authority to which she paid the utmost
deference, under a debased and materialised aspect. Christ
died, not only to save the souls of men, but also that
from his body the principle of immortality might be
imparted to the corporeal substance of their bodies. Here
is a strong case made out in favour of tran substantiation ;
for what more probable, or consistent with analogy, than
that an atonement like this should have also, by a standing
miracle, a material application ?^
The consequences that followed upon this error, we
soon discover in the view of the sacrament of the Eucharist
taken by this author's immediate successor, Ignatius of
Antioch. — He writes thus to the Philadelphians :^^ '' there
is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup in the
unity of his blood, one altar.""^^ The association of the
altar with the bread and cup in this passage, is, as well as
the use of the word itself, to denote the table upon which
the ordinance was celebrated, introduces an entirely new
notion of the Eucharist, that of a sacrifice ; to which we
object that it is devoid of scriptural authority. We take
the same objection to the following ; — " Breaking one and
the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the
antidote that we should not die but live for ever in Christ
Jesus."^^ This figure also innovates considerably upon our
9 This opinion certainly obtained with the early church ; see Ign. ad
Trail., c. 8.
10 c. 4.
u ^utrieiTvptovt that is, place whereon a sacrifice is offered ; he certainly
uses it in this literal and offensive sense. See below. Note 30.
12 Ign. ad Ephes., c. 20. 'iva ciprov xkuvrts, OS Wt (pdpfjiaxov u^avuffioii
avTttoTOi t3 (An aTo^aviiv «AX« ^Jfv Iv 'insS XpitrTco ^loi "rcuvroi.
previous views of the nature and efficacy of the sacrament;
even applied to the inward and spiritual grace only, it has
no sanction from the inspired writings ; Christ styles him-
self, " the bread" that sustains life, not the drug that cures
disease, nor the antidote that counteracts poison ; and the
two metaphors convey notions so widely different, that we
see not how, without direct revelation, the latter can be
safely employed : but by a still further departure from the
apostolical doctrine, Ignatius applies it to the outward
sign. The act of celebrating the Eucharist, therefore, has
become sacrificial, and the external elements are a medi-
cine, an antidote to corruption : notions, all traceable,
in yffly judgment, to St. Clement''s error of a materially
vicarious atonement ; though considerably in advance of it
towards the grosser doctrine, which Ignatius explicitly
avows in his letter to the Smyrnaeans. The passage rebukes
the error of those who, by neglecting the public ordinances
of religion, "• confessed not the Eucharist to be the flesh of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins and
which the Father of his goodness raised from the dead.'^ ^^
He proceeds to exhort them " not to delay receiving it,
that they might one day rise through it." It is impossible
for words to be more explicit ; beyond all question the
writer of this passage inculcated the doctrine of the real
presence in some form or other ; and we regret much for
the cause of truth, that this was not long ago conceded by
all parties ; inasmuch as, to those who look for their reli-
gion to the Bible, and the Bible only, the earlier or later
origin of an error is a matter of little real importance.
13 Ign. ad Smyrn., c. J* It is proper, however, to observe, that some
doubt is thrown upon the authenticity of this last passage by the circum-
stance, that neither it, nor any reference to it, is to be found in the interiK)-
lated copy of Ignatius, which bears evident marks of having been corrupted
during the Arian controversy. — See Ittig, Bib. Pat. Apns., p. 150.
103
Justin Martyr seems not only to have been himself
infected with the errors we have pointed out in his prede-
cessors, but speaks of them as being universally prevalent
among Christians at the time he wrote. In the well-known
passage of his first Apology, ^'^ we find that the cup in the
Eucharist contained a mixture of wine and water ;^^ an
unauthorised and unhallowed addition to the ceremony,
originating in the inspired account of the transactions at
the crucifixion,^^' and obviously intended to improve upon
our Saviour's ordinance, by giving to the symbol a still
more exact conformity to the thing signified : affording, in
my opinion, an important evidence to the general leaning
of the divinity of the times to the grosser doctrine. He
goes on to inform us, that '' the elements were not only
distributed by the deacons to those who were present, but
portions were also sent to the absent, because, after the
offertory, we hold them to be no longer common meat and
drink f'^^ or, in other words, because we believe that the
offertory confers a spiritual efficacy upon the elements.
Then follows an obscure and much controverted passage,
describing the mode in which this efficacy was communica-
ted ; ''for as Jesus Christ our Saviour was made flesh by
the word of God, and became flesh and blood for our
salvation, so we have been taught that the food which has
been blessed with the word of blessing from him, and
which nourishes our flesh and blood by being changed into
14 Opera., 97- B. e. s.
15 vrojvpiov ularos xai 3tfeifAar»s. — Id., 97« C xpetfia signifies the mix-
ture of wine and water, which was in ordinary use among the ancients ; to
this water was added as a part of the ceremonial. So Irenaeus : ro KixpafAtvov
rorri^tov — Lib. 5. c 2., p. 327- So also Clement of Alexandria : Ki^varcct
oivoi Tu wSaT/.— Paed., lib. 2. c 2.
16 John xix. 34.
17 Idem, 08 A.
104
them, is (likewise) the flesh and blood of the same incar-
nate Jesus."" Upon the very high authority of the Bishop
of Lincoln, ^^ we are informed that the grosser doctrine is
not favoured by this citation. This opinion he supports
by comparing it with two parallel places in the dialogue
with Trypho, in one of which^^ he terms the Eucharist
" the commemoration of our Lord''s passion ;" and in the
other, " wet and dry food."^ And nothing can be more
certain than that this comparison entirely explodes the idea
that Justin entertained the wild absurdity of the Roman-
ists, transubstantiation. But, nevertheless, after the most
careful perusal I have been able to give both to these
passages, and to the tractates whence they are extracted, I
am compelled to express my conviction that our author,
who agrees with Ignatius in terming the Eucharist a sacri-
fice,^^ is also in accordance with him, as well as with his
successors, in the notion that the spiritual efficacy of the
elements arose from the real presence. The mode in which
the presence took place does not seem to be accurately
determinable from his writings; though the use of the
word " change,'''^ in the passage just quoted, favours the
suspicion that the doctrine of transmutation was not alto-
gether unknown in the second century.
18 Account of the writings and opinions of Justin Martyr, c. 4., p. 98,
e. s.
19 Opera, 260. A. : see also 296. D.
20 Idem, 345. A.
21 Idem, 344 ; though page 346. D., he terms it a spiritual sacrifice.
22 fjitTct^oXn — It certainly occurs to me that Justin meant to say in
this passage : " as bread and wine are transmuted into human flesh and
blood by the digestive process, so the sacramental bread and wine become
the body and blood of Christ by the eucharistical blessing." Though the
opinion would be peculiar to himself; the other fathers of the second cen-
tury taught the real presence by supervention, not by transmutation.
106
From Irenaeus we derive a still further elucidation of
the doctrine of the Eucharist as expounded by the church
at this period. He terms it " a sacrifice,^^ in the offering of
which we show forth the communion and union of flesh
and spirit ; for as the food (that is, the elements) when the
name of God is invoked over it, becomes no longer common
food but Eucharist, compounded of two things, the one
earthly, the other heavenly ; so, our bodies, receiving the
Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possessed of the
hope of eternal life."^"^ The following passage is also
highly instructive on the same point ; " For since we are
his (Christ's) members, and nourished by the creature, he
gives the creature unto us, making the sun rise, and the
rain fall as he will ; and the cup, which is his creature, he
hath declared to be his own blood, whereby he enriches^^
our blood; and the creature bread, he hath constituted
his own body, whereby he nourishes^ our bodies. The
tempered cup and the made bread, therefore, receive the
word of God, and become the Eucharist of the body and
blood of Christ, whereby the substance of our bodies is
increased and strengthened.""^ After applying this, by a
favourite argument with the early fathers, though a very
inconclusive one, to the refutation of the error of those
who denied the resurrection, he proceeds: " For as a
vine-cutting planted in the earth bears grapes in due sea-
son, and as a grain of wheat falling to the ground and
decaying there, rises again and reproduces itself manifold
23 It is, however, evident from the context that he uses the word sacri-
fice in a spiritual sense.
24 Adv. Ha;r. lib. 4. c 34., p. 327.; Edit. Oxon., 1702.
25 ^iijii.
27 It will be observed that this passage very closely resembles our
extract from Justin Martyr.
106
through the Spirit of God which comprehends all things ;
then, by the wisdom of God, these are made serviceable to
man, and receiving the word of God become Eucharist,
which is the body and blood of Christ ; — so, likewise, our
bodies, being nourished by these, and being deposited in
the ground, and corrupting there, will also rise again in
due season, through the word of God which gives them
resurrection, to the glory of God the Father."^ Here is
an unequivocal avowal of the same opinions that we have
observed in Justin Martyr. — The elements undergo a
change during the offertory ; they are no longer bread and
wine, but Eucharist ; the body and blood of Christ super-
vening each to its proper symbol, during the performance
of that ceremony. This union of the sign and its signifi-
cation is declared to be similar in nature to that of flesh
and spirit in the living man. Misled by the erroneous
view of the atonement propounded by Clement of Rome,
Irenaeus also teaches that the Eucharist confers benefits
strictly corporeal : the bread imparting an immortal princi-
ciple to the body, and the cup to the blood of the receiver.
With the learned commentator upon this writer^ I also
entirely agree, that the papistical doctrine of transub-
stantiation receives no countenance whatever from these
passages. — Nevertheless, it is but too evident that, fol-
lowing the guidance of the apostolical men rather than
of the apostles, Irenaeus grievously errs from the scripture
doctrine of the Eucharist, and that the tendency of his
error is towards materialism.
TertuUian supplies us with abundant confirmation
of this melancholy view of the church in the second
century. — The Eucharist is, with him likewise, a sacri-
28 Idem, lib. 5. c. 2., p. 396, e. s. 29 Grabe.
m
fice, and the table on which it is celebrated, an altar.*^
The consecrated elements were deemed so holy, that
they were most carefully watched, lest any part of the
bread or wine should fall to the ground.^^ He conveys
the idea of the independent spiritual virtue of the ele-
ment in expressions partaking largely of that coarseness
which is a characteristic of his style. He speaks of " feed-
ing on the fatness of the Lord's body, that is, on the
Eucharist ;"^^ of our flesh feeding on the body and blood
of Christ in order that our souls may be fattened of God :^^
nay, " that believers partake of the grace of the Eucharist
by the cutting up and distribution of the Lord's body, in
the same manner as the flesh of the victim was distributed
at a sacrifice.''^'^ It will appear also from the following
passages, that notwithstanding these expressions, his opi-
nions did not really differ from those of his predecessors.
He speaks of " the bread whereby he represents his
body ;'"^ he declares the meaning of the scripture phrase
'* this is my body,"" to be " this is the representation of my
body :"^ and in the same way he terms the cup '' the com-
memoration and representation of the blood."^^ Most tri-
umphantly, from these and similar passages, does the
30 De Oratione, c. 14. The Bishop of Lincoln doubts that the altar is
here to be understood in the Church of England sense of the word — Eccl.
Hist., p. 448., and his doubt is perfectly well founded ; by altar, all these
writers certainly denoted, not a mere altar-table, but that on which a sacri-
fice is offered.
31 De Corona, c. 3.
32 De Pudicitia, c. 9.
33 De Resurrec. Cam., c. 8.
3^ Dominicae gratiae quasi visceratione quadam fruerentur. — Adv. Marc.
III. 7.
33 Adv. Mar. I. 14.
36 Id. IV. 40.
37 Dc Anima, c- 17.
108
Bishop of Lincoln refute the assertion of the Romanists,
that Tertullian taught the doctrine of transubstantiation.^
His notions on the Eucharist are evidently those of Jus-
tin Martyr and Irenaeus.
In Clement of Alexandria we find that exact accord-
ance upon this point with the preceding writers, which
reduces to absolute certainty our assumption, that we are
discussing, not the private and peculiar notions of indivi-
duals, but the doctrine of the Eucharist as taught by the
Catholic church in the second century. " The natural and
abstinent beverage needful for those who thirst is water : —
with this, issuing from the cleft rock, God supplied the
Hebrews of old, the unsophisticated liquor of temper-
ance : for from them, as wanderers, great abstinence was
required. Afterward the holy Vine produced the prophetic
bunch. This is a sign to those who are taught to cease
from error, when the great bunch, even the Word, which
was pressed for us, commands to mingle the blood of the
grape with water, even as his blood is mingled with
salvation : for the blood of the Lord is possessed of two
properties ; the one carnal, whereby we are delivered from
corruption, the other spiritual, wherewith we are anointed.
— And this is to drink the blood of Jesus, even to become
participant of his incorruption. — For the Spirit is the
strength of the Word as the blood is of the flesh ; there-
fore, the humanity and the Spirit (in man) are mingled
analagously with the wine and water (in the sacrament) and
the one (the mixed wine^) nourishes unto faith, the other
(the Spirit) guides into incorruption ; but the commixture
of both, that is, of the tempered wine and the Word,^
is called Eucharist ; whereof they who by faith are parta-
kers are sanctified, body and soul : the will of the Father
38 Eccl. Hist., U. S., p. 449, &C. ^ Kpei/^u. 40 Xoyif.
109
mystically commingling the divine admixture man, with
Spirit and the Word ; for the Spirit is in truth united to
the soul which is under its influence, and the flesh to the
Word ; wherefore the Word was made flesh.*"^^
This extremely obscure passage, which is the casual
introduction of the Eucharist into an exhortation to water-
drinking, is of great importance to our enquiry : inasmuch
as if we can disentangle the meaning of the author from
the intricate mazes in which he has involved it, we may
hope to obtain further light upon the doctrine of the early
church, regarding the mode in which Christ was really
present with the elements in the Eucharist. We premise,
that by the Spirit in this passage the Spirit of Christ is to
be understood ; a being altogether distinct from the Logos,
Word, or Divine Nature of Christ, though united with
it.'*^ This Spirit is here termed the strength or virtue of
the Word or Divine Nature of Christ. — The efficacy of
the blood of Christ is also declared to be twofold ; the one
affecting the flesh, or body, and animal life, giving to it
the principle of incorruption, — this is imparted by the
41 Paed. 2. 2.
42 By the Spirit of Christ, the anti-Nicene fathers certainly meant the
Holy Ghost, as in the passage before us : the doctrine of the Trinity not
having been then made the subject of controversy, we do not find in their
writings those accurate and scriptural distinctions regarding the Divine
Persons which afterwards obtained — See the bishop of Lincoln's Justin,
p. 71' ; and here, where the author speaks of the Holy Ghost as a part of
the nature of Christ. So Hermas ; " The Spirit spake with thee under the
figure of the church ; for that Spirit is the Son of God." — B. 3., Sim, 9. 1.
So also TertuUian : " Dominus noster Jesus Christus in quo et Dei spiri-
tusy et Dei sermo et Dei ratio approbatus est." — De Orat., c. 1. The
heresies and controversies with which the church has for so many ages been
harassed, are wonderfully overruled to the elicitation of the very mind and
truth of God from the written word. No one can read the early fathers
attentively without perceiving this. See above, p. 45, Note 52.
110
Word : the other affecting the soul, purification from sin,
is imparted by the Spirit of Christ. — The faithful parta-
ker, then, of the cup in the Eucharist (for it is of the cup
only that he is speaking) obtains both these benefits : for
this element is a commixture of tempered wine with the
Word, by which we are here to understand the Divine
Nature of Christ and the Spirit ; and being received in
faith, a third intermixture takes place ; the compound of
wine, water, and the Word, that is, the Eucharist, is mixed
with the compound of body, soul, and spirit, that is, man.
— And by what would be termed in modern chemistry a
double elective affinity, the Spirit of Christ combines with
the spirit of the man, purifying it from sin, and the Divine
Nature of Christ with the flesh and soul (or animal nature)
imparting to it a principle of incorruption. No doubt will
now remain as to the opinions entertained by these writers.
— The Logos or Divine Nature of Christ was present
with the elements in the Eucharist, united with them in
the same manner as the soul to the body in man. The
benefit of its faithful reception was also twofold ; — one to
the body, imparting to it a principle of incorruption, the
other to the soul, conferring upon it purification from sin.
That Clement of Alexandria did not entertain the idea of
tran substantiation is sufficiently apparent from the citation
before us, where the material blood of Christ is never once
mentioned : and it is rendered still more unquestionable by
another passage from the same hortative to the use of
water ; wherein he terms wine " the mystic symbol of the
holy blood which the Lord himself instituted.'"*'*^ Nor
43 Paed. lib. 2. c. 2., p. 382. In the same chapter also he thus defends
the use of wine against the Encratites and other fanatics, who forbade it.
" Our Lord himself drank wine in the days of his flesh : and he blessed
wine when he said, ' Take, drink, this is my blood ;' the blood of the vine
I
111
do I discover any countenance whatever to this doctrine
in the more elaborate work of the same author, the Stro-
mates, which, being an avowed exposition of the disci-
plina arcani, we certainly should have found there, had
the most recent defence of this insanity been a valid
one.'"
The doctrine of the early church, therefore, regarding
the Eucharist, was widely different from that which is to
be found in the canonical writers. Misled partly by her
over-zeal in refuting the errors of the Docetoe and other
heretics who denied the humanity of Christ, but princi-
pally by those gross views of the ceremonial of religion
with which all her members would be prepossessed, from
whatever creed they were converted, she certainly main-
tained that the elements acquired spiritual virtue ; and
that this virtue arose from the Divine Nature of Christ
dwelling in them, as the soul in the body. In effecting
this union, she probably called to her aid the strange
notions of spiritual existence current in those times : we
have already seen that they held Spirit to be palpable to
even the word ' which is shed for many for the remission of sins ;' he
allegorises it as the sacred source of joy. That it was wine that our Lord
blessed is evident, for he says again : ' Henceforth I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine, &c.' " It is plainly impossible that the writer of this
passage should have believed in transubstantiation.
44 According to the Bishop of Aire, the early fathers denied the doc-
trine of transubstantiation, because it was one of the inner mysteries which
they concealed from the uninitiated See Faber^s Difficulties of Romanism.
This defence has also been adopted very recently, in an ingenious and well-
imagined attack upon Christianity, by holding up Romanism as its purest
and most perfect form. It would have had more weight, had the character
of the author as a jester by profession, been somewhat less notorious : as it
is, he has completely taken in several good Catliolics ; and more than one
zealous Protestant has formally replied to it : both, doubtless, to the infinite
amusement of the author.
112
the outward senses, and capable of mechanical admixture
with matter :^^ in some such manner she seems to have
tauffht the inhabitation of the Divine Nature or celestial
part of the Eucharist.**^ As a certain consequence of this
error, she also taught her members to anticipate corporeal
benefits from the faithful reception, of the elements : — they
conferred upon the material body and blood that principle
of incorruption which rendered them capable of an eternal
existence at the resurrection : — a manifest absurdity, inas-
much as the Scripture expressly extends this benefit of
our Saviour's redemption to all the sons of Adam, at
whatever period they may have lived i^'^ and irrespectively
of any condition whatever.
In this fearfully corrupt state, the doctrine of the Eu-
charist was transmitted by the church of the second century
to the days of darkness and gloominess, of clouds and thick
darkness that so speedily followed. And in times when an
appeal to Scripture was seldom heard of, except through
the medium of the ecclesiastical writers of preceding pe-
riods, there was hardly a possibility that the errors into
which these writers had fallen should be corrected by a
comparison therewith : and equally remote was the proba-
bility, when the errors in which they originated themselves
remained unimpaired and still crescive ; so that the entire
divinity of the church went to the extraction of the ritual
of a religion, whose benefits were conditional upon the
observance of a wearisome ceremonial, from the unearthly
and spiritual precepts and doctrines of the gospel. Under
these circumstances, can we wonder that the error on the
45 See p. 87, Note 68.
46 It was in the writers of this period that Luther found the doctrine
of consubstantiation.
47 1 Cor. XV. 22.
113
Eucharist should speedily attain to its utmost aggrava-
tion ? and that, by declaring the elements to be actually
transmuted into human flesh and blood, the foully erring
church debased the blessed supper of the Lord of purity
and holiness into a Thyestean banquet, more loathsome
and revolting than had ever polluted the most impure
orgies of Paganism ?^^
48 There is an impudence of absurdity in this doctrine which it rouses
one's indignation to think, that such should ever have been propounded as
an article of faith. A change at once substantial, and yet undiscernible by
any means ; at once miraculous and non-miraculous ; a miracle, not for
the confirmation of our faith, but requiring faith to believe it to be a
miracle ! Well may we exclaim with Dr. South, " it is the most por-
tentous piece of nonsense that ever was owned in the face of a rational
world !" — Sermons^ Vol. V. p. 17. That the human mind was not insen-
sible to the follies and contradictions innumerable which this doctrine
involves, even in the darkest ages, I adduce as evidence the following story,
which " I tell as 't is told to me" in the Apothegmata Patrum, edited by
Cotelerius — Eccl. GrcBC. Mon., Vol. /., p. 421. (The Theban-Coptic ori-
ginal, whence it has been translated into Greek, will also be found in Zoega.
Catalogus. Cod. Copt, j9. 313.)
" There was a recluse of the desert who was mighty in works but
weak in faith ; so he fell into error because he was but a simple person, and
said ' The bread that we receive is not the body of the Lord really, but
only figuratively.' And two old men heard him say so ; and they came to
him, and said, ' O father, believe according to the tradition of the church.*
And he answered, ' I cannot believe it assuredly, unless I see the thing
itself : let us, therefore, pray God that it may be shown unto me.' So they
all retired to their cells and prayed that God would reveal it to the holy
recluse, lest he should lose the reward of his good works. And God heard
their prayers ; for the next Lord's day they stood together at church upon
the same cushion, the recluse being in the middle : and their eyes were
opened; and when the bread was put upon the holy table, it appeared to them
three like a little boy. And when the presbyter put forth his hands to break
the bread, behold ! the angel of the Lord came down from heaven with a
knife, and stabbed the little boy, and let his blood run into the cup. And
when the presbyter broke the bread into little pieces, the angel also cut little
pieces from the body of the child. And when they came to take of the
I
114
holy elements, the recluse's portion was a gobbet of bloody flesh. Then he
cried, ' I believe, O Lord,' and immediately it became bread again."
This miraculum in miraculo was probably invented sometime between
the eighth and tenth centuries. One is not sorry to find that there were
sturdy thinkers, even at such a period as this, and in the heart of the
Libyan deserts.
CHAPTER VIII
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
There is a principle in Christianity, the application of
which would have extricated the early fathers from the
perplexities and errors, in which their doctrine involves
the Christian sacraments.
To this principle, we conceive, must be referred the
extraordinary circumstance, that these sacraments should
constitute its entire prescribed ritual. Liturgical for-
mularies of devotion, and rounds of observances, which
are the very essence of all other religions, engaged no part
of the attention of those who were inspired to proclaim
the precepts and doctrines of Christianity. Our Divine
Master, when appealed to by the Samaritan woman upon
the question between her nation and the Jews, at once
answered her enquiry, but failed not, at the same time,
to foretell the speedy overthrow of the temple worships,
both of mount Zion and mount Gerizim ; and to embody
in a single sentence, more instruction regarding this branch
of our duty to our Maker, than was to be found in all the
prescriptions of religious service that the world contained :
— " God is a Spirit : and they that worship him, must wor-
ship him in spirit and in truth."^ This was the principle,
and this alone, which was regarded in the construction of
1 John iv. 24.
116
the whole exterior of his religion. Nothing else appears
to have weighed with him for a moment. He has not left
us a single direction regarding the worship of God, which
does not bear exclusively upon the heart of the worship-
per, discarding every other adjunct of circumstance. —
Time, and place, and posture, so important in the older
rituals, are less than nothing and vanity with him ; he
does not bestow even a thought upon them. The apostles
also follow exactly the footsteps of their Lord in this, as in
every thing. Anxious only to press home the important
truths, that form and ceremony were abolished, and that
the worship of God was an act and exercise of the heart,
none of the other circumstances of religious service appear
to have dwelt in their recollection. — As if fearful of with-
drawing the regards of the Christian man from them, in
any measure, they have studiously avoided recording the
particulars of the mode in which the worship of God was
conducted by themselves ; that there might be no form
of their prescription for his wayward heart to rest in, and
that this principle of his religion might flash upon his
understanding from every page of inspiration, " God is a
Spirit : and they that worship him, must worship him in
spirit and in truth."
It is from hence that we contend to best advantage
with the materialists in both sacraments. — If they be
part and parcel of Christianity, which we all agree that
they are, they must recognise this principle in its whole
extent. — We answer the advocates of baptismal regene-
ration, that the Gospel propounds no other evidence of
sin forgiven, than sin forsaken ; and no other medium for
its remission, than the blood of Christ, applied by faith
to the conscience. We tell the materialist in the other
sacrament, that it is the faith of the worthy partaker that
I
117
alone discerns, or can discern, the Lord's body in the holy
Eucharist ; and that, therefore, his doctrine of the real
presence is as needless as it is ridiculous. This high
ground best befits the dignity of the entire subject : — that
in all our acts of worship the heart of the worshipper,
and that alone, is regarded by him to whom they are
addressed, is a grand principle of Christianity ; and what-
ever is not in exact obedience to this principle forms no
part of Christ's religion.
We have seen that the early fathers have greatly
obscured this principle, in their doctrine of the sacraments.
We now proceed to consider their opinions upon other acts
of religious observance ; when we shall find, that though
we may meet occasionally with formal acknowledgments of
it, yet it does not exercise that entire influence over their
doctrine upon these points, which is so apparent in the
canonical writings.
We commence with prayer ; a subject upon which, of
all others, he who professes to take the New Testament
for his guide, would seem to be in the least danger of
error : since, by an apparent departure from the course
observed with regard to other acts of religion, the Holy
Spirit has recorded in the New Testament both the time,
and mode, and form of prayer which will be accepted.
The time, — pray always : the mode, — pray with the heart :
the form, was given by our Lord himself; and though too
brief to admit, for a moment, of the supposition that it is
the only prayer which a Christian man may use, is, never-
theless, so wonderfully comprehensive, that he can scarcely
offer a petition to the throne of grace which is not included
in it. As TertuUian justly and beautifully observes, ^
"it is the summary of the whole gospel : for whatever the
2 De Oratione, cc. 1, 9.
118
writings of prophets, evangelists, and apostles, the dis-
courses, parables, precepts, and example of our Lord
have touched upon, is contained in these few words. —
What duty which they enjoin is omitted ? Honour to the
Godhead in the Father ; a testimony of faith in his name ;
a profession of obedience to his will ; a commemoration of
hope in his kingdom ; a petition for life in the bread ; a
confession of sin in the deprecation ; solicitude concerning
temptation, in the prayer for help against it. — But God
alone could prompt the prayer, which himself would hear
and answer.""'
It is surprising that there should be any deflections
in these early writers, from a path so straitly hedged in as
this. Nevertheless, they do err, and in the direction we
have pointed out.
St. Clement of Rome writes thus to the Corinthians :
— " It will behove us to take care, brethren, that looking
into the depths of the divine knowledge we do all things
in order, whatsoever our Lord has commanded us to do :
and particularly that we perform our offerings and ser-
vice^ to God at their appointed seasons : for these he has
commanded to be done, not by chance* and disorderly,
but at certain determinate times and hours. — They, there-
fore, that make their offerings at the appointed seasons "•
are happy and accepted."^ In perusing this passage we
naturally enquire where is the divine command to which
St. Clement refers ? If his reference be to the ceremonial
law of Moses, we instantly reply to him, that it is abo-
lished : neither does any such occur in the New Testament.
Should his appeal be to the Christian tradition, which
probably it is, we apply to it the argument with which
•'' To'is rpofiTayf^ivo'is KaipaTi. ^' Clem, ad Cpr., c. 40.
I
119
Tertullian^ has supplied us : — we compare the unwritten,
with the written tradition, with the canonical and inspired
writings : when we discover, that it is in clear opposition
to the Christian doctrine upon the point ; inasmuch as
the same observances which St. Clement urges upon the
church at Corinth, St. Paul stigmatises in the Judaizing
Christians of Galatia, as a departure from the simplicity
of the Gospel, " Ye observe days, and months, and times,
and years."' ^ We, therefore, at once reject it ; on the
ground, that there can be no apostolical tradition which
contradicts the apostolical epistles. We readily grant,
that an order of ecclesiastical service must and will be
agreed upon, in every community over which the influence
of Christ's religion is fully exerted : and that order being
once settled, according to the Word of God, we greatly
question the propriety, or the wisdom, of needless innova-
tions upon it : but that there is any divine command,
prescribing the hours and ceremonies of public worship,
we utterly deny : — and we produce the assertion of St.
Clement that there is such, as evidence that the great prin-
ciple of Christian worship was soon misapprehended, and
that, even in the earliest uninspired records of the church,
we discover a leaning to formality and materialism.^
The following passage, from another of the apostol-
ical writers, is also highly objectionable : — '' Remove from
7 De Praescriptionibus Haereticorum.
8 Gal. iv. 10.
9 It is quite needful the reader should be aware, that the commencement
of the passage from Clement upon which we have commented, is quoted by
his namesake of Alexandria — 4 Strom. § 18. ; and that he connects it with
a sentence altogether different from the rest of it, which does not occur
at all in our copy of the Epistle. Though the learned father occasionally
mutilates his quotations, the circumstance certainly raises a suspicion that
the place may be a spurious one.
120
thee all doubting, and question nothing at all, when thou
askest any thing of the Lord, saying within thyself, how
shall I be able to ask any thing of the Lord, seeing I
have so greatly sinned against him ? Do not think thus,
but turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, and ask of him,
without doubting, and thou shalt know the mercy of the
Lord. — For God is not as men, mindful of the injuries he
has received ; but he forgets injuries, and has compassion
upon his creature. — Wherefore, purify thy heart from all
the vices of this present world, and from doubting, and
put on faith, and thou shalt receive all that thou shalt ask.
— But he that doubts shall hardly live unto God, except
he repent.'"*^^ The principle for which we contend is here
fully recognised ; it is the heart of the worshipper, and
that alone, which God regards in the acceptance or rejec-
tion of prayer. The precept, to put away doubting in
prayer, is also scriptural : but, nevertheless, it would
hardly be possible to display more consummate ignorance
of the nature, not only of prayer, but of the whole
scheme of Christianity, than in the passage before us. As
many of the points here touched upon will come under our
notice elsewhere, we will merely state our objections gene-
rally. We deny, then, that the sinner has any ground of
hope in the badness of the Divine memory ; God does
not, cannot, forget any thing. — Nor is there forgiveness of
sin with him, save in the atonement of our Lord Jesus
Christ ; a doctrine never once mentioned, or even alluded
to, in the entire passage. We also deny that there is any
power in man, either to purify his own heart, or to offer
to God, by his own unassisted effort, the prayer which he
will hear and answer. For these, he must be altogether
indebted to that Holy Ghost who is also termed in Scrip-
^^ Hermas, Comm. 9.
121
ture " the Spirit of supplication ;"" and of whom it is
declared, that he " helpeth the infirmities" of the believer
in prayer, " himself making intercession for him.*"^^ — St.
Hermas had entirely lost sight of this important doctrine
also. We in the last place object, that the man who, in
compliance with this advice, should endeavour, in his own
strength, to put off doubting and to put on faith, would
probably appear before his Maker in a spirit even still
more offensive to Hinj : that of vain confidence and pre-
sumption. — The prayer of faith, and the assurance of
hope, are both unequivocally declared in Scripture to be
the gifts of God, and are, therefore, altogether unattain-
able by any merely human effort. Another fundamental
doctrine of Christianity, then, that of the divine assistance,
is totally misapprehended by this early writer ; who grie-
vously errs, in ascribing to man the power of so purifying
himself from sin as to be competent to offer acceptable
prayers to God ; independently, both of the atonement of
Christ, and of the aids of the Holy Spirit, to neither of
which he makes the slightest allusion.
Tertullian, the next writer who has treated upon
prayer, also greatly mistakes the doctrine of Holy Scrip-
ture. His comment upon the fifth petition of the Lord's
Prayer, " forgive us our trespasses,"^^ is characterised by
the same omission that we have already noticed in the wri-
tings of Hermas; it does not contain a single allusion to the
atonement.^'* We only repeat, that in our apprehension of
11 Zech. xii. 10.
12 Rom. viii. 26.
13 De Oratione, c. 7-
14 The Bishop of Lincoln observes upon the same peculiarity, as run-
ning through the whole of Tertullian's writings ; he also cites other passages,
abundantly showing the strict orthodoxy of this father on the doctrine of
122
the Christian scheme, any petition for pardon of sin which
is not mixed with faith in the sacrifice and death of
Christ, is a mere mockery of God : — and therefore, that
the commentator who forbears all mention of it, in writing
expressly upon the subject of remission, greatly misleads
his readers, even though his remarks may be excellent in
themselves.
Nor have we yet seen the extent of this father's misap-
prehensions, upon the subject of prayer. He thus rebukes
certain evil practices which prevailed in the Christian assem-
blies during divine worship : — '' It is the custom of some
to sit during prayer ; but if it is irreverent to sit in the pre-
sence of those whom we greatly revere and venerate, it is
surely a most irreligious act, in the presence of the living
God, and while the angel of prayer himself is standing ; for
we thereby reproach God that praying to him wearies us.
We most powerfully commend our prayers to God by
worshipping him with modesty and humility, not extrava-
gantly tossing up our arms, but elevating them moderately
and gracefully ; with the countenance not impudently
erect, but meekly and humbly dejected like the publi-
can's.^^ It is also proper that the tones of the voice should
be subdued ; for, what tremendous windpipes shall we
require if our prayers are best heard and answered when
we say them the loudest ! — God hearkens not to the voice
but to the heart. If God listens for a sound in prayer,
how could Jonah's prayer ascend to heaven from the very
abyss, through the bowels of so great a beast, and through
justification ; and endeavours to account for the almost uniform omission of
the atonement, in those places where it was most important that it should
be introduced, by the circumstance, that no controversy had then arisen upon
the subject — Eccl. Jlisi.y c. 5., /). 330.
15 De Oral., c. 12.
123
so vast a depth of sea-water.^^ What do the performers
of these obstreperous acts of devotion, but shout that their
neighbours may hear them ? and if such be the case,
where is the difference between their mode of prayer, and
praying in the corners of the streets P"^^ Now, though
I entirely agree with our author in the great impropriety
and indecency of every one of the practices he condemns,
(all of which I am sorry to say may even now be observed
in public worship,) and though I greatly rejoice in the
testimony to the spiritual nature of Chrisfs religion, which
is borne in this passage, by one of whose intellectual powers
I entertain so high an opinion, I must, nevertheless,
protest against the line of argument he pursues in admi-
nistering his just and well-merited reproof. I exceedingly
disapprove of sitting in prayer, but only because I hold it
to be indicative of an irreverent and secular state of mind
in the worshipper ; this, I conceive, is displeasing to God,
not that the mere posture of the body is an act of dis-
respect to him and to his angels ; were this the case, sitting
would be at all times unlawful, inasmuch as they are every
where present. On exactly the same principle, while I
agree with TertuUian in reprobating loud and clamorous
tones and violent action, either in public or private devo-
tion, I utterly deny that any modulations of voice we can
compass, or any gesticulations we can perform, either with
our features or our arms, will one whit commend our
prayers to God. — Nay, I maintain that, on the one hand,
many an acceptable prayer has been offered with a total
disregard to the posture of the body, and with much inde-
16 The gross notions of spiritual existence which, as we have already
stated, prevailed in these times, will in some measure account for the oddity
of this remark.
17 Idem, c. 13.
124
corum both of tone and action ; and that on the other,
many a one hath appeared before God with a most scrupu-
lous attention to the external forms of piety, who has,
nevertheless, offered the prayer of the hypocrite, which is
an abomination unto him : TertuUian himself, and in the
same passage, gives us the reason .of this : '' God regards
the heart and not the tones and gestures of the worship-
per :" and consequently this bodily exercise only profits,
when it is a true indication of the mental state of the per-
former ; and is worse than worthless, when assumed as the
disguise of insincerity.
Some other erroneous practices are also mentioned by
TertuUian, which it may be well here to enumerate, in
order to show the irresistible violence with which the set
and current of public opinion was bearing away all that
was peculiar and characteristic in Christianity, till nothing
but the mere frame-work of its external ceremonial re-
mained ; and even that frame-work, the same current was
as rapidly choking up and deforming with the rubbish of
the mouldering fabric of heathenism, which drifted upon
its surface, and accumulated there. These ceremonies con-
sisted of bathing before prayer, in commemoration of bap-
tism, — washing the hands before devotional acts, (founded,
doubtless, on Psa. xxvi. 6. ;) — taking off the upper gar-
ment to pray ; this custom, he tells us, originated in a
ridiculous misapprehension of 2 Tim. iv. 13. Refusing
the kiss of peace, with which all the public assemblies of
the early Christians concluded, on station and fast-days :
TertuUian wishes to restrict this usage to the Paschal fast
only ; and brings some very bad inconclusive arguments in
support of the restriction.
Clement of Alexandria, does not appear to have been
at all in advance of his cotemporaries in his apprehension
125
of the true nature of prayer ; this is sufficiently apparent
in the following address to the Almighty : " I will liberate
myself from lust, O Lord ! that I may dwell in thee. I
must be in that which is thine, O Omnipotent ! and even
when I am here, I am with thee ; but I will be without
fear that I may get near thee, and I will be content with
little, imitating thy most just choice, which discerns what
is really good, from that which merely resembles it."^^
Not often, I hope, in the annals of human folly, has the
Almighty been insulted with a more impious prayer
than this ! The ambitious aspirant to Gnostical perfection
vaunts before his Maker, that he will accomplish in him-
self that, which God in his word hath declared, is the
work of his Spirit only.
The error of the early fathers upon the subject of
prayer, consisted in their ascription of far too much to
man, and far too little to God, in its acceptable service.
This appears in a two-fold character. In the first place,
they tax the innate powers of man too heavily : they call
upon him to repress sin in his own heart, and then to
appear before God ; whereas, the Scripture every where
exhorts us to ask of God to create a clean heart within us,
because it is a blessing which he only can impart. But
so possessed are they, with this power in man to deal inde-
pendently with God in the matter of sin, that, in treating
upon forgiveness, they become oblivious of the doctrine
of the atonement. In the next place (with not perfect
consistency) they ascribe a large measure of efficacy to the
observance of a certain orthodox ritual, in the external
ceremony of prayer ; to this, as well as to the heart of the
worshipper, they conceive the Almighty to have regard.
It is almost needless to point out the tendency of one of
18 4 Strom., § 23.
I
126
these errors to aggravate the other. The religionist who is
sincere and in earnest, will soon discover that the task of
purifying his own heart is an utterly hopeless one : but he
has been taught that the outward ceremony, in prayer, as
well as the inward frame of mind, obtains acceptance with
God : most naturally, therefore," he turns his attention to
that which is within his reach, to the neglect of that which
he has found to be unattainable : and thus, this important
act of Christian duty was rapidly degraded into a super-
stitious and formal observance.
When the external rites of religion have acquired
this degree of value, it would appear to be an inevitable
consequence, that the number of them should also begin to
multiply.
The following passage from TertuUian will show that
that this actually took place in the instance before us : it
is also important, as embodying nearly all that we know
respecting the external forms of worship in use in the
second century. He is speaking of certain customs, the
authority for which rested not upon the written Scriptures,
but upon tradition ; — " to begin with baptism ; when we
are about to go down into the water, we sometimes are
required to profess before the church, and under the hand
of the bishop, that we renounce the Devil, his ceremonies,
and his angels :^^ then we are thrice immersed, answering
somewhat, more than the Lord had appointed in the gospel.
On coming from the font, we taste of a mixture of milk
1J> Nos rennnciare diabolo et pomjns et angelis ejus ; — the word pompa
alludes to the subject of the tractate, which is a defence of the conduct of
a Christian soldier, who suffered martyrdom rather than wearing a laurel
crown in a triumphal procession — See c. 1. It is probable that the expres-
sion " pomps and vanities of this wicked world," in our baptismal service,
originated in this passage.
I
127
and honey ; and abstain from the daily batli for a full
week afterwards. The sacrament of the Eucharist, which
was instituted by our Lord during a meal, and enjoined
upon all present, we also celebrate at our assemblies before
day-break, and receive from no other hand than that of the
President. We make oblations for the dead annually, on
the day of their death. We account it wrong to fast or to
kneel during prayer, on the Lord's day. We enjoy the
same immunity from Easter to Whitsuntide. When we
set out on aay journey, every time we go out from our
houses, and on our return to them, when we put on our
clothes and our shoes, when we bathe, when we sit down
to table, when we light the lamps, when we retire to our
bed-chambers, when we recline upon couches, whatever
subject engrosses our attention, at the time of commencing
each of these acts, we invariably trace upon our foreheads
the sign of the cross.'*^*^ He proceeds to tell us that " tra-
dition is the author, custom the confirmer, and faith the
observer of all these ceremonies." We have already dis-
cussed the question of doctrinal tradition ;^^ that of tradi-
tional ceremonies may conveniently be deferred, until we
come to consider the ecclesiastical polity of the first and
second centuries. But we may here remark upon the
customs recorded in this passage generally, that though
some of them may be innocent, and others even laudable,
they are, nevertheless, by no means free from the taint of
heathenism ; and are conceived in the true spirit of those
" profane and old wives' fables,"" which St. Paul, by the
Holy Ghost, commanded Timothy to " refuse.''^^ But, the
evil, after all, was not that they existed, but that they
were made part and parcel of Christianity in the theology
20 Tertull. de Corona Militis, c 4. 21 Chap. III.
22 I Tim. iv. 7.
198
of the times, for they were certainly accounted as such
by Tertullian.
The opinions of the early fathers, therefore, regarding
the worship of God, evidently tended to confer an undue
importance upon the innate powers of man, and upon the
mere outward rite ; errors which necessarily obscured
and put aside the doctrine of divine assistance, conferring
purity of motive upon the accepted worshipper, which is
the leading characteristic of the Christian religion.
CHAPTER IX.
CELIBACY AND THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY.
So far as we have hitherto pursued our investigation, it
apparently leads to the conclusion, that the spirit of Chris-
tianity, in these early times, was undergoing a process of
gradual assimilation to that of the false or abolished
religions, in the prepossessions of which all its first con-
verts had been educated. The two points of ecclesiastical
discipline we are now about to consider, Celibacy and
Fasting, will still more strikingly illustrate and confirm
this view of the subject. We commence with the former.
The false doctrine which asserts the superior sanctity
of religious celibates, is an error whose influence is by no
means departed at the present day, though greatly dimi-
nished. The origin of the opinion is likewise perfectly
apparent, in the writers whose works are before us. It is,
therefore, important, that we should consider the question,
even if it be only for the purpose of showing the very little
practical eff'ect, which the teachings and writings of the
inspired apostles must have produced upon their imme-
diate successors, when an error so plainly pointed out,
and so unequivocally repudiated by them, receives, not-
withstanding, a strong sanction from the works of the
early fathers.
The only two passages which could have afforded the
130
appearance of a scriptural foundation for the doctrine,
either so carefully limit the advice they convey (for com-
mand there is none) to circumstances occurring, or arising
out of the state and prospects of religion at the time they
were delivered, or so strictly confine it to the individual
conscience of the Christian, and so perfectly fence it off
from all interference on the part of the church, that it
seems incredible, that the error could have originated in
them. One of these, is a place of great obscurity, and
of very doubtful application ; and even if we admit, that
it applies to Christianity at all times (as the early fathers
have interpreted it,) the precept it conveys only amounts
to the general position, that the consciences of some indi-
viduals, among the disciples of Christ, may be persuaded,
that they will better promote the progress of the Gospel if
they remain single, than if they marry :^ the other^ is an
uninspired opinion, given for the existing necessity ; when
tlie writer, St. Paul, was prescient, by the spirit of pro-
phecy, of a persecution then imminent over the church he
was addressing, and is therefore obviously incapable of any
more general application. But when we find the same
apostle declaring, with plenary inspiration, that " forbid-
ding to marry is the doctrine of fiends,""^ and that " mar-
riage is honourable unto all,"""^ we can hesitate no longer.
It is morally impossible that the notions upon this subject
which so soon led to monachism, with all its follies and
crimes, could have been even suggested by the New Tes-
1 Matt. xix. 12. To understand the allusion fully, it should be borne
in mind, that celibacy was accounted an absolute crime among the Jews :
the doctrine, therefore, that a person abstaining from marriage could serve
God acceptably at all, was probably new to many of our Lord's hearers.
2 1 Cor. vii.
3 1 Tim. iv. 1, 3.
4 Heb. xiii. 4.
131
lament, unless some powerful prepossession had biassed the
interpretation.
But can it be shown that monastic notions existed in
times antecedent to the first propagation of Christianity ?
We conceive that this question will be satisfactorily an-
swered in the affirmative, by the canon of discipline pre-
scribed to his followers by Pythagoras of Crotona in
Grecian Italy, who flourished about five hundred years
before the Christian era. He required of those who aspi-
red to be his disciples, and their number was very great,
a commencing-probation of five years^ silence ; during
which, they listened daily to the maxims of wisdom which
fell from the lips of the philosopher ; but until that period
had elapsed, they never beheld his person. The purport
of these instructions was in unison with the policy of this
concealment. — While the one inspired them with a reve-
rential awe of his presence, the other exhorted them to an
entire submission of their wills to his, in all things.
His course of discipline was exceedingly severe. Ani-
mal food was altogether forbidden in the earlier stages of
it, and even those roots and herbs that needed cooking :
while of the allowed food, none were permitted to eat to
satiety. — Water was their only beverage. — Their dress was
a perfectly clean white woollen garment. They were for-
bidden to laugh or jest ; to indulge in either joy or sor-
row ; anger also was to be entirely subdued. In a word,
for every emotion of the mind, for every action of their
lives, for every hour of the day, a strict rule was pre-
scribed to them. As whole nations became his disciples,
it was impossible for him to prohibit marriage ; but he
evidently greatly discouraged it. His immediate disci-
ples had all things in common ; and lived together in a
spacious building which he erected near his own dwelling,
I
132
in order that he might there enforce the observance of his
rule of discipline. All these privations he called upon
them to submit to, that they might thereby be prepared
to see the gods ; a blessing only attainable by the
possessor of a perfectly clean body, enveloped in a white
garment. Pythagoras, we are informed, learnt these doc-
trines from certain Indian Gymnosophists or Brachmans,
whom he met with at Babylon. I believe it would be im-
possible to name the individual, whose opinions exercised
so powerful an influence over the religion and philosophy
of Greece, as Pythagoras of Crotona. But his code of
discipline embodies, not only the elements, but the very
details of monasticism ; which, in every form it assumes,
is always based upon these two principles ; — entire sub-
mission to the will of the superior, and the purification of
the soul, by the mortification of the body.
Nor was it from the Pythagorean philosophy alone,
that the early Christians derived those monastic notions,
which they did not, could not, find in the Bible.
The Jewish sect, called Essaei, or Essenes, were much
spoken of about the time of our Saviour"'s birth. They
are said by Josephus,^ and Philo,^ to have been then
in number about four thousand : and in the account
of their customs given by these authors, we discover an
astonishing agreement with the discipline of Pythagoras.
The probation of the novices was completed in three years;
during this time they were, in the first place, inured to the
most laborious and self-denying exercises ; after one year,
they were permitted to minister to the elder brethren at
meals, and in the bath, but were not allowed even to enter
the house where they resided, until the end of the third
year. They were incessantly taught the necessity of entire
5 Ant., lib. 18. c. 1. *» frifi 'EXtv^yipttzf.
133
obedience to all their commands and wishes : and, though
daily permitted to sit at their feet, and listen to their
instructions, were never allowed to speak in their presence.
The resemblance is preserved throughout the entire course
of their discipline. — Simplicity and frugality in diet were
among the fundamental maxims of both sects. It is not
probable that the Essenes were allowed the use of any animal
food whatever ; they appear to have had a horror of taking
animal life, like the Pythagoreans ; and, like that sect, they
also refused to offer bloody sacrifices, but sent meat-offer-
ings to the temple at Jerusalem : for they never entered that,
or any other city themselves, through fear of being polluted,
by contact with the uninitiated. Their dress was a clean
white garment ; and cleanliness with them, as with the Py-
thagoreans, was a most important part of their religion : —
they always bathed in pure spring-water before their de-
votions. Their ethical code was evidently founded upon
the Mosaic records ; they were taught the most exact per-
formance of their word : and in every other particular, it
as much excelled that of Pythagoras, as the morality of
the Decalogue exceeds that of the Greek philosophy. But
the same strict rules, both of living and thinking, were
imposed in both disciplines ; bearing, even in their details,
a very extraordinary resemblance to each other : and in
both, they produced precisely the same effect, in repressing
and subduing the passions and emotions of the mind.
The Essenes were remarkable for their sober and grave
deportment, and for their unflinching firmness in enduring
tortures. Still preserving the close resemblance which we
are endeavouring to point out, they also enjoined, and very
generally observed, celibacy, though some of them were
allowed to marry. Their avowed purpose, in this course
of discipline, was, by the mortification and maceration of
134
the body, to afford to the soul a greater facility in obeying
the attraction upwards, by which it was always influenced.
— They professed the utmost reverence for the law and
institutions of Moses : but their ritual was by no means
free from idolatrous practices. They addressed their pray-
ers to the sun in the morning before he rose.
Now it is plainly impossible that all these coinciden-
ces should occur in two systems, both springing up about
the same time, in regions so widely separated, unless their
founders had originally drawn from the same source. It
must also be remembered, that the Essenes begin to be
noticed in Jewish history almost immediately upon the
return from the second captivity. — Is it not, then, highly
probable, that it was at Babylon that the Jews, as well as
Pythagoras, first learnt these very peculiar notions, and
from the same instructors also, the Brachmans or Indian
Gymnosophists ? — If it be allowed me for a moment to
pursue this digression, it was just about the period we are
considering, that the followers of the extraordinary being
Buddhu, the great reformer of the Hindu mythology,
experienced a fierce persecution from the adherents of the
ancient religion, which terminated in their expulsion from
peninsular India. The votaries of Buddhu fled eastward
and northward, planting, in some of the Hindu-Chinese
nations, their religion unimpaired; in others, engrafting
their strange notions of contemplative Theism u}x>n the
prevalent idolatries. That they also fled westward, there
can, I think, be little doubt: we recognise them in the
Brachmani of whom frequent mention is made, both in
the later philosophical, and the ecclesiastical, writings ;— the
name of Buddhu himself is also known to these authors ; he
is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria as the head of one
sect of the Indian Gymnosophists : a circumstance in itself
135
sufficient to prove that the Brachmani with whom the Greek
philosophers came in contact were Buddhists. '^ — Had they
been professors of Brahminism, they certainly would have
reported nothing good of Buddhu. Neither do we offer
any great violence to probability by the conjecture, that
traces of their presence are discernible at this day, in the
Soofees of Persia ; a sect of Mohammedan deists, who
profess to attain to assimilation with the nature of God,
by the incessant contemplation of the divine perfections ;
and whose name is derived from the white woollen garment,
which is the badge of their profession.^ But whether the
notions of Pythagoras and the Essenes originated with
Buddhu or not, the important and difficult question of the
rise and progress of the principle of monasticism, can
never be fairly and fully discussed, unless it be taken into
consideration, that the countries in which Buddhism is the
established religion, abound with convents quite as much
as those which profess the corrupt and debased Christianity
of the Middle Ages ; and that the rules and regulations of
the two agree with such wonderful exactness, that the
Catholic missionaries in Thibet were driven by it to the
old subterfuge of supposing, that the author of evil him-
self, seeing the essential benefits which had been thereby
conferred upon the Catholic church, had inspired the
priests of the Great Lama with the Benedictine rule ; in
the hope that in their hands, it would equally benefit
his own cause. But this is not the place where such an
enquiry can with propriety be pursued. Our present
7 1 Strom., § 15. " Some of the Indians obey the precepts of Butta,
and honour him as a God on account of his virtue.'* In the same passage
he divides the Indian Gymnosophists into two classes, the Sarmani and
the Brachmani.
8 Malcolm's History of Persia.
136
purpose is abundantly answered if we have shown, that
Christianity was neither the author nor the abettor of the
abominations of monasticism ; they were already rife in
the world when the religion of Jesus Christ first appeared ;
— with the Jews as the highly popular tenets of the sect
of the Essenes,^ and with the Greeks under the still more
influential form of the Pythagorean philosophy.
We shall soon find how deeply the minds of the
early fathers were imbued with monastic notions, regarding
celibacy : though our quotations from them will be neces-
sarily limited by the nature of the subject, and by the
unseemly manner in which they too often treat it.
The earliest proof I can discover of this bias towards
celibacy is in the epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans ;
at the conclusion of which, the first notice occurs of an
order of female ecclesiastics. St. Paul had directed that
certain portions of the funds of the church should be set
apart for the maintenance of aged widows : — it appears
from the passage before us, that unmarried women were
also supported by this fund, who were named by a most
uncouth solecism. Virgin- Widows. — TertuUian plainly
hints, that in his time, the practice had opened the door
to great licentiousness, and very properly denominates
them monstrum in ecclesia}^ The virginal ecclesiastics
of the other sex also seem to have occasioned scandal
9 This coincidence was observed long ago : Eusebius the historian,
quotes at length Philo's account of the Therapeutae, or Essenes of Egypt,
points out the many agreements between their regulations, and those of the
Christian monastic system which prevailed in his time ; and from thence
comes to the conclusion, that the Therapeutce were Christians. He does not
seem for a moment, to have entertained the fact of the case, that the Chris-
tians had become Therapeutae. — Euseb. Eccl. Hist.^ lib. 2.
10 Miraculum, ne dicerim monstrum in ecclesia virgo-vidua. — De
Virg. Veh, c. 9.
137
and inconvenience to the church, even in the days of
Ignatius ; he hints at this in his epistle to Polycarp,
(c. 5.) "If any man can remain in a virgin state to
the honour of the flesh of Christ, let him remain, without
boasting : but if he boast he is undone."
Three heretical sects are enumerated by Irenaeus, who
declared marriage to be unlawful and sinful.^^ The reasons
assigned for its prohibition by some of these Heresiarchs,
are so shockingly indecent and profane, that one cannot
help hoping that the polemical furor of their orthodox an-
tagonists has carried them somewhat beyond the bounds of
exact truth, in stating the opinions they are combatting :
but the maintenance of such a doctrine, by persons who
scarcely regarded the Bible at all in their wild mythic sys-
tems, sufficiently proves, that it was not in the regulations
which Christianity prescribes to the baser passions, that
the monastic reverie of the sanctity of celibacy originated.
In the writings of TertuUian we shall find the ful-
lest exposition of the doctrine of the church in the second
century, upon this point also. — We have two tracts from
his pen. upon the subject,^^ both written after his con-
version to Montanism ;^^ and, of course, with an especial
view to the establishment of the new doctrine revealed by
11 The Saturnine Gnostics, Adv. Hcer., lib. 1. c 22 ; the Marcionites,
id. c. 30., and the followers of Tatian, id. c. 31. The errors of Marcion are
very diffusely stated and refuted by TertuUian, adversus Marcionem : and
those of both Marcion and Tatian by Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromates
II. II I ^ as well as by Irenaeus.
12 De Exhortatione Castitatis and de Monogamia.
13 The two letters of TertuUian ad Uxorem^ dissuading his wife from
second marriage, and probably written in the immediate prospect of his
own dissolution, are dictated by so very natural and allowable a feeling,
and, moreover, breathe throughout, so pure a spirit of conjugal affection,
that I cannot bring myself to include them in the censure, I am compelled
to pass upon his other works on this subject.
138
that enthusiast, the entire prohibition of second marriages :
— and that in enforcing this prohibition he committed no
offence against the orthodoxy of the times, is evident, in
the circumstance, that some of his silliest arguments are
copied, almost verbatim, in the Epistolae familiares of
the fiery bigot, Jerome,^^ with a large accession of foul
language from the exhaustless vocabulary of the latter
saint. The mode in which he speaks of marriage, in
every form, throughout these tracts, is abundantly con-
firmatory of the view we are taking of the question. —
Nothing can be more plainly stated, than his conviction,
that there is a peculiar sanctity inherent in virginity to
which married persons can never attain. He asserts that,
in a well-known passage of Scripture upon this subject,^^
the prohibitions to marry are revealed, while the permissions
are only the unassisted opinions of the writer.^^ — A most
palpable mistake ; inasmuch as St. Paul expressly states
therein, that " concerning virgins he has no commandment
of the Lord f'^'^ and never mentions the subject, without
repeating the same caution.^^ He likewise continually
endeavours to run parallels between marriage, and the vio-
lation of the seventh Commandment ; both he declares to
be the same in kind, that is, both unlawful, but different
in degree.^^ He argues, that what it is good for a man
not to do,^ it is bad for him to do ;^^ and makes no secret
of his desire to destroy marriage altogether, because it
consists of that which is pollution : "it follows, therefore,
that it is best for a man not to touch a woman ; and the
main sanctity of the virginal state consists in its entire
14 Lib. 3., Epis. 5, of the selection of Canisius. 15 l Cor. vii.
16 De Exhortatione Castitatis, cc. 3, 4.
17 I Cor. vu. 25. 18 vv. 6, 7, 12, 26, 40. 19 De Exh. Cas. c. 9.
20 1 Cor. vii. 1. 21 De Monogamia, c. 9.
139
freedom from all affinity with fornication ."^^ He proceeds
thus to recommend celibacy : — " by continence thou shalt
acquire great wealth of sanctity ; by impoverishing the
flesh thou shalt enrich the spirit. — When the continent
man prays to the Lord he is near heaven, when he reads
the Scriptures he is altogether there, when he sings a psalm
his heart sings also, when he adj ures a demon he has faith in
himself. If prayer out of a pure heart alone be profitable
we must always exercise ourselves in continence, that our
prayers may always profit us. If prayer be needful for
men, daily and every moment, to just the same extent is
virginity also needful. Prayer proceeds from the con-
science, and if the conscience blushes the prayer blushes
also.""^^ The tendency of all this is perfectly obvious ; a
certain degree of pollution is necessarily contracted by mar-
ried persons, from which celibates alone are free. Or, to
approach nearer than I had intended, to the bounds which
modern custom has most properly prescribed to this hateful
subject, no perpetuation of the human species can take
place under any circumstances, but the consciences of the
parents are thereby necessarily exposed to a certain degree
of sinful defilement. This was certainly the doctrine of
TertuUian : and I again deny that there is any passage of
Scripture which sanctions such an opinion.
In Clement of Alexandria the subject of marriage is
also diffusely treated upon. — The last chapter of the second
and the whole of the third book of the Stromates, are almost
22 De Exhor. Cast., c 9. — Elsewhere he declares that marriage is the
ordinance of an imperfect and immature dispensation ; and that the pri-
maeval law which occasioned the necessity for it, (Gen. i. 28,) was abrogated
by the complete revelation of Montanus. It appears to have been his
notion, that the perfection of Christianity would bring about the end of
the world, by extinguishing the human race ! — Adv. Marc. I. 29.
23 Id., c. 10.
140
entirely occupied with it. This long dissertation is somewhat
more lucidly arranged than is usual with its author. — He
tells us, that all the heretical notions upon marriage then
existing might be divided into two classes ; the one con-
sisting of those who held licentious doctrines, the other of
those whose rule of morals exceeded that of the Scripture,
and who refused the gifts of providence through hatred to
the Giver ;2^ both these he refutes. Against licentiousness,
his doctrine is unexceptionable, and he quotes pertinent
passages of Scripture, for the most part, in support of it.^^
— But he also falls into the same error which he afterwards
condemns : he frames a stricter rule than the scriptural
one. — His net has so broad a cast, and so wide a sweep,
that it is next to impossible that the consciences of married
persons should not be entangled therein.^^ Though in
my judgment, no error has been more deeply fraught with
disastrous consequences to society than this, I, of course,
decline any lengthened remarks upon such a subject.
But we may here notice, as one of its evil effects, the
unnatural abomination of virgin marriages ; which the
present author certainly countenances,^ which Tertullian
strongly recommends,^ and which appears to have attained
to its perfection about the times of Jerome.^
2* 3 Strom., § 5.
25 Idem, § 5, 14, 18.
26 See idem, § 11, and throughout there is a constant allusion to it.
See also Paed., lib. 2. c. 10, which is still worse. Something not very
unlike it will also be found in Bishop Taylor's " Rules and Exercises of
Holy Living," c 2., § 3. — A book as a composition, exquisitely beautiful,
but which would have proved more acceptable to the Church of Christ,
had it contained more of the religion of the Bible, and less of that of the
fathers. *
27 3 Strom., § 6. '
28 De Monog., c. 9.
29 U. s. passim.
I
141
Upon the other class of errors his remarks are scrip-
tural and sensible, for the most part : he boldly declares,
that " if the law is holy, marriage is holy also ; that mar-
riage and fornication are as far asunder as God and the
Devil ; and that it is quite impossible that the apostolic
injunctions to moderation and continence could be intended
to abrogate or prohibit marriage, inasmuch as the same
epistles contain also innumerable injunctions regarding the
duties of the married state.""^ It is plain from hence,
that the schools of Alexandria and of Carthage, were at
issue upon this point ; and it is equally certain that the
latter ultimately prevailed in good measure. Jerome, as we
have seen, adopts all the opinions of TertuUian the Monta-
nist upon this subject ; though he attacks Montanus with
great acrimony.^^ Several other passages occur in the work
before us to the same purport as that we have just quoted :
but as they throw no new light upon the question, we con-
tent ourselves with merely referring to them :^^ — they are,
with the abatement we have pointed out, scriptural and
good.
We should, however, give a very wrong impression of
thisfather''s opinions upon the subject, if we did not also quote
his remarks upon the other aspect of it. Second marriages,
in one place,^ he permits, with St. Paul ; in another,
he declares that monogamy is enjoined f* and stigmatises
30 3 Strom., § 12.
31 U. s., lib. 3., Ep. 11, ad Marcellam.
32 3 Strom., § 4, 6, 9, &c.
33 Idem, § 1.
34 [dem, § 12. By monogamy he means one marriage only, like Ter-
tuUian, as well as monogamy, as distinguished from polygamy; though
he sometimes makes the distinction : fAovoyaf^ixv xai rhv 'npt rov iva, ya,fji,ov
ffifjLv'ornra.^ § 1 ; so also, § 12, w^aj Ivrpt^hv ^i ««' «v«xa*«v raiv tufTi^opav
tis Tov oiurtfov yxfiov.
142
siecond marriage as fornication.'^ I think his mind was by
no means settled upon this question, and that he did not
sufficiently distinguish between second marriages and poly-
gamy.
Upon the subject of celibacy, he has likewise fallen
into the error we have noticed in the preceding authors. —
He speaks of a profession of celibacy as a great grace, for
which those to whom it is imparted should thank God,
and not despise those who are married.*^ He exhorts
them to adhere to their choice and not deflect from it ; and
to encourage them in it, he tells them that " he who shall
be able to extend and increase the severity of his course of
life, shall thereby acquire greater dignity with God on
account of his pure continence, perfected according to his
word : but if he transgress the rule he hath chosen, the
stricter that rule the greater will his failure be.'"^'^ His no-
tion was evidently, that matrimony and celibacy were two
separate vocations, in both of which it was in the power
of men to serve God : — and though he equalises their
capacities in this respect, to a much greater extent than
TertuUian, he, nevertheless, gives the preference, for the
purposes of religion, to celibacy : and that, not in order
that the believer thus unencumbered, might go forth to
preach the gospel, and endure hardness as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ, but that he might be able to give himself
more unreservedly to the contemplation of divine things,
to harmonising the Greek philosophy with Christianity,
and to the fantastical interpretation of Scripture, wherein,
as he supposed, the true Christian Gnosis consisted.
There is another fiction in Christianity, which origina-
ted in these notions ; and Clement of Alexandria has the
bad eminence of being the first author of account who has
35 § 12. 36 § 18. 37 § 12.
143
promulgated it. We need not say that there is not a
shadow of scriptural authority for the doctrine of the per-
petual virginity of the mother of our Lord. That the
common speech of the Jews used in the Gospels, which was
never very precise in its definitions of degrees of relation-
ship, may have left room for the construction of an oppo-
site argument, is not the question ; for, though I might
be inclined to regard that argument as a highly artificial,
and even fallacious one, I do not insist upon this point ;
but assuming what cannot readily be denied, that we have
no revelation upon the subject, I would regard it under
another aspect.
The perpetual virginity, and its concomitant fables,
the advanced age, previous marriage, and family of sons,
of Joseph, the husband of Mary, are never mentioned, or
hinted at, by Clemens Romanus, Barnabas, Ignatius, or
Poly carp ; and if their silence makes but little for our
argument, it at any rate proves nothing against it. But
the entire absence of all allusion to the perpetual virginity
in the Shepherd of Hermas is, I think, more important,
as evidence against its antiquity ; there are so many places
in the book where it would have served the author's pur-
pose, that it is surprising, to say the least, he should not
have made use of it.
We now proceed to the second century. I can-
not find even a hint at the perpetual virginity in Justin
Martyr, though he frequently alludes to the miraculous
conception in his works ; and in a manner which shows
him to have been by no means untainted with the error we
are now considering.^
It is not alluded to in the writings of his pupils.
38 See Apol. I., p. 74. C, &c. Dial, cum Tryph., pp. 262. B., 290. B.,
297. C, .327. C, &c.
I
144
Irenaeus follows Justin, in driving a comparison be-
tween the Virgin Eve, in whom all men died, and the
Virgin Mary, in whose offspring all were made alive ; but
far from any hint at the perpetual virginity, he carries
on the resemblance to the espousal of Joseph and Mary,
which he compares with that of Adam and Eve.*^
We have already seen that Tertullian was engaged in
a controversy regarding virginity and second marriages;
and that many of his extant works were occasioned by it.
Now, upon both these points, can we conceive of any
thing more important or influential, than the example of
the Virgin Mary ? The absence, therefore, of all allusion
to the perpetual virginity, on the part of the Montanists,
and of even a hint, at the second marriage which, accord-
ing to these fables, brought the birth of our Lord within
the pale of the Divine Law, on the part of the Sensu-
alists, is, perhaps, as strong a negative testimony against
their doctrinal existence at the time, as could well be
imagined.
But what shall we say, when we find the same
writer zealously defending the relationship of consan-
guinity between Christ, his mother, and brethren, in a
comment upon Matt. xii. 47-, against Apelles and other
heretics, who denied it, for the purpose of impugning
our Lord's humanity P"^ nay, absolutely doubting that
Mary was then a believer in her son''s doctrine ! and wind-
ing up a long train of reasoning, all to the same effect,
with a denial of the perpetual virginity in good set
39 Iren. adv. Haer., lib. 3. c 33., lib. 5. c. 19.
40 De Came Ch/rkti, c. T. In the same book he copies the two pre-
ceding authors in the parallel between Eve and Mary, c. 17, and though
many circumstances in the fable we are combatting would have greatly
aided his illustration, he does not allude to one of them.
I
145
terms ! !^^ We have now, at any rate, safely arrived at
the conclusion, that the church rejected the doctrine we
contend against, up to the end of the second century.
Clement of Alexandria, who wrote about eighteen
years after the commencement of the third century, we
have noticed as the first ecclesiastical author who believed
in this fable. He thus introduces it, as an illustration,
into a defence of the discipline of the secret ; — '' It would
appear, that many persons suppose in these days, that
Mary was no longer a virgin after the birth of her son : —
but she was still a virgin. ""^^ He then proceeds to narrate
the fabulous circumstance upon which his assertion rests ;
his authority for which is still extant. It is a spurious
gospel ; a foul farrago of falsehood and of filth, deeply
tainted with the heresies of those who deny our Lord's
humanity, entitled the Protevangelion.'*^ In this sink of
iniquity, the Alexandrian philosopher found the coarse
fiction of the perpetual virginity : and the church of
succeeding centuries " supped full" of monachism, greedily
embraced it,'*^ and would have accepted a doctrine so sea-
40 Maria virgo quantum a viro, non virgo quantum a partu— /d,
c. 24. : see the whole chapter.
41 7 Strom., § IG. 'A\X ^us toixtv, rois •xccXXoiz xa) f^'^XP' "'''' ^oxit ii
Mapixf/C Xi;^aj iTvai ^la rhv r5 •ra/^/s yivsefiv, ix Stra, Xix,'^. It will be observed
that in this passage Clement admits the fact which we have already ascer-
tained from other authors : — he was introducing a new doctrine, and in
opposition to the prevalent belief of the times.
42 Fabricii Codex Apocr. Nov. Test., Vol. I. The passage to which
Clement alludes, occurs p. 110., cc. 9, 10. I will not defile the page by
quoting it in any language : — Clement's reference to it shows plainly enough
that he was ashamed of his authority. <pa<rl nvts (^avrriv) -rupS-svov ivpiS-^jvai.
43 See Bishop Pearsoii's Exposition of the Creed, p. 173, note ||.,
which occurs in the course of a defence of the perpetual virginity, by far
the most ingenious and astute that ever appeared. The profoundly learned
Prelate observes : " Tertullian himself was produced as an asserter of this
L
146
sonable, on the authority of a name far less illustrious than
that of Clement.
Enough is now before the reader to show, both that
monastic notions existed in the church during the second
century, and from whence those notions were derived. —
Marriage was very generally imagined to partake of the
nature of sin ; and even by those who were most tolerant,
it was hampered with innumerable regulations and obser-
vances ; so that, to whichever opinion his spiritual guides
might incline, the mind of a married person, possessed of
any conscientious feeling, would hardly fail to be greatly
harassed and perplexed. Celibacy, on the other hand,
was loudly extolled, and zealously recommended by all par-
ties ; and, though we no where hear of vows of chastity,
yet those who made the profession of it were called upon
to hold fast that profession, and to increase the rigour of
their abstinences and mortifications, as an unerring means
of procuring large accessions of spiritual blessings : nor
does it seem improbable that provision was made out of
the funds of the church, for the maintenance of these virgin
contemplatists.
If such was the state of this question in the second
century, we cease to wonder when we find, that before the
termination of the third, half the population of Egypt
rushed, in a wild frenzy of fanaticism, into the deserts of the
Thebaid, or the Salt Marshes of Libya, each vying with
the other who dare plunge the deepest into the burning
opinion, (that is, an impugner of the perpetual virginity ;) nor doth St.
Hierom deny it, though I think he might have done it." It was this
remark which appeared to render it necessary, that in treating upon this
doctrine, I should insist upon the negative testimony against it borne by
the early fathers, and the works of Tertullian generally, as well as
upon the pcfeitive evidence in the tractate of the latter author, de Came
Christi.
147
solitudes of the Sahara, or who could build his hut of
reeds nearest the fatal verge of the marsh, whose stagnant
waters exhaled pestilence and death : — that in the fourth,
the first convent was founded at Bethlehem by certain
opulent female devotees, at the instance of Jerome ; and
that, very shortly afterwards, the whole of Christendom
was covered with a cloud of friars and nuns, '' white,
black, and grey, with all their trumpery."
CHAPTER X.
ASCETICISM.
Of the powerful influence which was exercised over the
minds of men by the Pythagorean, or Buddhistical, notions
whose origin and progress we have endeavoured to trace,
we can give no instance more remarkable than the fact,
that they were able to engraft upon Christianity an insti-
tution entirely new and foreign to its whole character and
design. The active and energetic nature of this principle,
is further illustrated by the rapidity with which it con-
verted the moderation and self-denial enjoined in the New
Testament, into the rankest asceticism.
The abstinence of the Gospel is in perfect harmony
with the whole of that dispensation which is declared to
be the "law of liberty.*"^ The motive or principle in
which, like every other Christian duty, it is to originate,
is thus inculcated: — " Provide yourselves treasures in
heaven : for where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also."^ '' Set your aff*ections on things above, not on
things on the earth.""^ The operation of this principle is
embodied in a single sentence : "let your moderation be
known unto all men."" * — ' Let the moderation of your de-
sires after the means of temporal and worldly gratifica-
tion, and your temperance and abstinence in their use, be
1 Jas. i. 25. 2 Luke xii. 25. 3 Col. iu. 2. 4 phil. iv. 5.
14B
such, as that all men may take knowledge, that your affec-
tions are not set upon them.' All particular directions are
included in this general injunction : not excepting those
concerning fasting, with which, as a customary and harm-
less mode of expressing religious sorrow and humiliation,
it formed no part of the mission of our Lord and his apos-
tles to interfere. For, notwithstanding its recommendation
by both, as a help to the exercise of devotion, mere absti-
nence from food, under any form, can never be binding,
as a religious act, upon the conscience of His disciple
who hath said, "Not that which goeth into the mouth
defileth a man." ^
This " commandment is exceeding broad," ^ as he
who in simplicity and godly sincerity strives to fulfil
it, will not fail to discover : — ^but, nevertheless, the
early church manifested eager impatience to enlarge its
dimensions. Symptoms of this change are to be found
even in the Shepherd of Hermas. In the fifth Similitude
of the third book, the writer is addressed by his guar-
dian angel upon the subject of observing Stations,'^ while
he was preparing for that ordinance. He commences
in a very proper and scriptural strain, to point out the
nature of a true fast : — " Ye know not what it is to fast
unto God; this not a fast, for it is not profitable unto
God. The Lord does not desire such a needless fast : for
by fasting in this manner thou advancest nothing in right-
5 Matt. XV. 11.
6 Psa. cxix. 96.
7 The dies stationarii were half fasts observed, according to Tertullian,
on the authority of tradition — Adv. Pst/ch., c, 12. They were kept on
Wednesday and Friday in every Week : — on Wednesday, because on that
day the Jews took counsel to destroy Christ : — on Friday, because on that
day he was crucified ; they were ordinarily observed to the ninth hour of
the day, because that was the time of the supernatural darkness.
150
eousness. But the true fast is this : do nothing wicked in
thy life, but serve God with a pure mind ; and keep his
commandments and walk according to his precepts, nor
suffer any wicked desire to enter into thy mind." ^ We
may safely infer from this passage, that the Stations were
entirely destitute of apostolical authority ; an opinion which
certainly prevailed also in TertuUian^s time.^ Notwith-
standing this, the angel of Hermas proceeds to point out,
both by parable and precept, the excellence of going he-
yond the commands of God ; and sums up the whole in
these words, — " Keep the commandments of God and thou
shalt be approved, and shalt be written in the number of
those that keep his commandments. But if, besides those
things which the Lord hath commanded, thou shalt add
some good thing, thou shalt purchase to thyself a greater
dignity, and shalt be more in favour with the Lord than
thou shouldst otherwise have been." " The Station, there-
fore, is good and pleasing, and acceptable to the Lord."
Now where, in the Bible, I shall be glad to know,
did Hermas or his angel discover that a mere act of bodily
mortification is, in itself, acceptable to the God of love ?
— Every thing of this nature is propounded, throughout
both the Old and New Testaments, as means conducive to
the spiritual improvement of him who performs them ; not
that the Almighty takes pleasure in the maceration and
sufferings of his creatures. I am equally ignorant of any
scriptural authority for the opinion, that it is in the power
of man to exceed the commands of God. For the holiness
of God himself is the pattern and exemplar which they
8 This passage is a strong presumption in favour of the high antiquity
of the book, which some have been inclined to doubt.
9 Stationes nostras, ut in serum constitutas novitatis nomine incusant.
mm.Adv. Psy., c. 10. He goes on to inform us that they were then newly
reappointed by the paraclete Montamus.
set forth for our imitation ; " be ye holy, for I am
holy f' he then that goes about to add to them, pro-
poses to be holier than God : a notion as absurd as
it is impious. But again, we assert that such an addi-
tion would be sinful if it were possible ; for the state of
mind which God requires in his servants is, an earnest
desire to fulfil his revealed will in all things ; and conse-
quently, to exceed the commandment, is just as much an
act of disobedience as to fall short of it. But why seek
the living among the dead ? Austerities have evidently,
according to this writer, an abstract and absolute value
with God ; and, therefore, the more frequent their repeti-
tion, the larger the amount of merit to the ascetic ; and
these notions he found, not in the doctrines of the Gospel,
but in the philosophy of Pythagoras.
To TertuUian we are indebted for a further illustra-
tion of the progress of this error in the church. As we
are not now engaged in bringing together all the passages
from each author which bear upon our subject, but only
so much of them as shall suffice to establish the existence
of the doctrines we point out and endeavour to combat, we
merely premise, that many very strong recommendations of
fasting and abstinence are scattered over the works of this
father, and proceed at once to a brief epitome of his tract,
adversus Psychicos, He commences this furious hortative
to fasting in all its branches auspiciously ; with a passage
far too indecent either to translate or quote. ^*^ To such a
10 He is tracing the connection between the multi-vorantia and multi-
nubentia of the sensualists {■^v^nt'oi ;) by which very courteous title, he dis-
tinguishes all those who did not keep the exact number of fasts prescribed
by Montanus ; nor hold with that crazy impostor, or enthusiast, that second
marriages were adultery. — C. 1. Clement ot Alexandria, who was not a
believer, speaks of this name in a manner which shows, pretty plainly, that
he did not at all enjoy his title of honour.— See 4 Strom*, § 13.
152
frenzy does this raving fanatic lash himself, in favour of
the inordinate catalogue of fasts prescribed by Montanus,
and his two prophetesses, and against those who presume
to curtail, by a single moment, their full duration, that,
before he quits this part of his subject, his words, as well
as his sentiments, are licentious. When he becomes quote-
able, we find the points upon which the orthodox had
attacked the Montanists to be, first, — the observance of
jejunia propria, peculiar fasts ; that is, fasts not prescri-
bed by the universal church: — second, prolonging the
Station-fast to the evening, instead of terminating it at
the ninth hour : — third, in the fasts called XerophagicE^^
wherein the orthodox abstained only from the flesh and
wine, the Montanists prohibited also all juicy fruits, and
the use of the bath. Here, then, is a complete schism in
the church, the two sections of which revile each other
with a most polemical fluency of foul names ; the subject
of their dispute being, the number of fasts, and the mode
of their observance, required of Christians ; and both
loudly professing themselves, all the while, the zealous dis-
ciples of him whose only precept concerning fasting, was,
" When ye fast be not as the hypocrites are ; for they
disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to
fast : but thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and
wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but
unto thy father which is in secret."^^ When we further
consider, that all this was enacted, scarcely a century and
a half after the first propagation of Christ^s religion, we
have made out a case of fatuity, perfectly unaccountable,
U This fast was a restriction to dry food only, as its name imports—i-
The origin both of this and the station-fast was really, the discipline of
Pythagoras and the Essenes.
12 Matt. vi. 16—18.
153
in my opinion, upon any merely natural principle ; and to
which (except in our present subject) we shall hardly find
a parallel.
He proceeds to recount the arguments of his oppo-
nents, who regarded the passion-week fast only as obli-
gatory upon Christians; the rest as merely voluntary.
As they are, for the most part, founded upon perti-
nent passages in the New Testament, they are, of
course, unanswerable ;^^ the summing up which he puts
into the mouth of the adversary, is really admirable: —
" I will believe with all that is within me ; I will love God
and my neighbour as myself : on these two precepts hang
all the law and the prophets, and not on the emptiness of
my stomach and bowels." In his attempt to answer this,
he sets out with the somewhat startling assertion, that
fasting is in itself valuable and available with God ;^^ and
and he then endeavours to explain the reason : it is as fol-
lows ; — " Adam ate, and fell ; we must fast, that we may
be recovered. — Adam's sin consisted in eating, all men
must abstain from eating, that they may expiate that
offence; man must atone to God in the same matter as
that wherein he first offended ; that is, by abstinence.*"^^ —
Though all this has more the air of a figure of speech
than of an argument, he applies it strictly to the latter
use : he adduces it in proof of his premise, that fasting is
available and acceptable with God; and upon this he
grounds the whole of his reasoning. Moreover, it must
13 Acts XV. 28, 29 ; Gal. iv. 9, 10 ; Isa. Iviii. 4, 5 ; 1 Cor. viu. 8 ;
Matt. XV. 1 1.
14 Valet apud deum inanitas ista, c. 3.
1^ Quis jam dubitabit omnium erga victiis macerationum banc fuisse
rationem, qua rursus interdicto cibo et observato pracepto primordiale jam
delictum expiaretur ; ut homo per eandem materiam causae satis Deo faciat
per quam ofTenderat : id est per cibi interdictionem— /c/fw.
154
be borne in mind, that in thus arguing, our author is by
no means bringing forward any of the peculiarities of
Montanism, by adopting a course of reasoning which the
orthodox would have condemned. This error stands
charged, with pushing the then prevalent notions of disci-
pline to an insane extreme, rather than, with originating
opinions in themselves erroneous. — The orthodox would
have applied exactly the same argument in defence of their
prescription, against the laxer heretics. All this we infer
from the circumstance, that our author was never accused
of heresy on this account ; far from it, his mode of defence
was admired and imitated, long after the ordinances in
whose support he applied it were forgotten. ^^ Fasting,
therefore, which the New Testament enjoined only with a
regard to the spiritual advancement of the believer, and
which Hermas in the first century termed, a good thing
to be added to the commandments, has acquired in the
second century, by as unequivocal an acknowledgment
as words can convey, that tangible value with God, which
we have already endeavoured to show that the notion of
the preceding period assigned to it. All allusion to the
spiritual state of the devotee, is at an end, or nearly so.
— Fasting is not a means of Grace, but an expiative offer-
ing to God, for the sin of our first parents in eating the
forbidden fruit, which is efficacious for the removal of the
taint and corruption, which our nature has thereby con-
tracted. — Evidently, therefore, the more frequent and
severe the fast, the more perfect the purification of the
devotee ! Are we ascertaining the tenets of the followers
of the God of Christianity or of the gods of Hindooism ?
We glance at the remainder of the tract, in order to
confirm our account of his leading argument, as well as to
16 See above page, 138.
I
155
show how conscious the writer was, that the whole weight
of the Scripture authority was overwhelmingly against
him, and the miserable shifts to which he resorts to evade
its force. He endeavours to prove the doctrine of expiatory
fasting from Scripture ; and the first step of his argument
is a stumble, and an awkward one. If fasting be the
means of recovering the favour of God, whence is it that
the permission to eat was extended after the deluge, instead
of being curtailed ? for God permitted to Adam the use of
herbs and fruits only ; but he allowed Noah to eat flesh
also. The answer to this untoward objection is worthy of
the entire argument. — " God conceded this greater liberty,
in order that man might acquire more merit by fasting ;
and that by the practice of a greater abstinence, upon the
occasion of a greater licence, he might make a greater ex-
piation of the primary ofFence.'''^^ He proceeds to quote a
number of other passages from the Scriptures, and to
comment upon them ; frequently in a strain of inconceiva-
ble absurdity. I forbear quoting them, as we are already
in possession of the whole of his reasoning. — His citations
soon bring him again into an unfortunate dilemma ; for it
suddenly occurs to him, that nearly all the worthies, whose
powers of abstinence he has so strongly commended, were
Jews, and, therefore, fasted under a dispensation of cere-
monies, which the Gospel has entirely abolished. The
condition in which his argument escapes from this diffi-
culty is truly pitiable. — " With one exception,^* the Chris-
tian fasts were appointed at times altogether different from
those of the Jews :"^^ therefore, Christianity effects no
17 Quo magis primordiale delictum expiaretur majoris abstinentiae
operatione, in majoris licentia: occasione.— C. 4., Jin,
w The Passover, Easter.
19 C. 14.
156
change whatever in the spirit and temper of Judaism ; and
derives its title to be termed a new dispensation, merely
from the circumstance, that it abolishes the fasts, and some
other ceremonies of the older religion, and prescribes new
ones. This contemptible- evasion is his only refuge from
an objection of his own raising !
In the same spirit of quibble and misinterpretation he
informs us, that where the New Testament writers con-
demn these formal and needless abstinences, they wrote by
the Spirit of prophecy, against the errors of Marcion,
Tatian and others, who enjoined a perpetual fast out of
hatred and contempt for the Creator of the world.^^ After
quoting the case of Hophni and Phineas, who were pun-
ished, not for sacrilege, but for eating, and of the prophet
sent to Jeroboam, who was slain by the lion, not for his
disobedience, but for his crapulary indulgence, he tells
us that, on the other hand, the fasts of the Heathens
themselves, though instituted in honour of false gods,
and intermixed with idolatrous rites, were, nevertheless,
acceptable and efficacious with God ; he instances the
Ninevites. — The resemblance between the fasts of Monta-
nism and those of Heathenism, he traces, as usual, to the
prescience of the Devil ; who, foreseeing their excellence,
forestalled and anticipated them in the ritual of idolatry.
And that the Devil had a good deal to do with the whole
matter, we shall probably all agree : though it would seem
to fall in better with his ordinary mode of operation, to
to engraft Heathenism upon Christianity, rather than
Christianity upon Heathenism.
He proceeds to sing the praises of fasting in the fol-
lowing strain of coarse vehemence : — '' O Saint ! God is
thy belly, and thy lungs are his temple, and thy stomach
* 20 c. 15.
157
is his altar, and liis priest is thy cook, and the Holy Spirit
is thy savour of cooked meats, and his grace is thy sauce,
and prophecy is the eructation of thy full stomach ! But
O thou that indulgest thy gorge ! thou art like Esau,
thou wilt sell thy birth-right, any day, for a mess of pot-
tage; thy charity boils in thy pots, thy faith warms in
thy kitchens, thy hope lies in a cradle spit."^^ Then fol-
lows as filthy passage as you shall find in Petronius Arbi-
ter. And this is the Christianity of the second century.
Clement of Alexandria has treated the subject of
fasting in a manner which curiously contrasts with that of
the preceding writer, and which well illustrates the very
different views which two individuals obtain of the same
subject, though holding the same sentiments upon it,
when their observations are made through the media of
different mental prepossessions. The bent of TertuUian's
mind was towards fanaticism ; Clement, on the other hand,
dearly loved the Greek philosophy : and the design of
nearly all his remaining works, is to harmonize the Eclec-
tic^^ system with that of Christianity. Accordingly, while
the former writer, as we have seen, gives the full energies
of his mind to the increase of the number and rigour of
the stated fasts, and to rendering more stringent upon
men's consciences the canon that prescribed them, Clement
lays down a rule of abstinence to the full as rigid, in a
book whose purpose is to identify the moderation of
Christianity with the happy medium of the Aristotelian
philosophers ; its self-denial with the supreme good of the
Platonists ; and its entire system with the discipline of
Pythagoras !
The second book of the Paedagogue is an expansion
21 Cc. 14, 15. See a similar passage in Clem. Alex., Pad. 2, 1.
22 See page 33.
158
into twelve tedious chapters, of that which the Apostle had
already declared by the Holy Ghost in a single sentence ;
"let your moderation be known unto all men.''' He
attempts to establish a rule for all the common functions
of life, eating, drinking, feasting, laughing, sleeping, &c,
—but never once enforces it by the apostle's sanction,
" the Lord is at hand f^^ — ^he merely adduces argument in
favour of abstinence drawn from the nature of things,
some of which are absurd even to madness ; pronounces
philippics against excess, and only appeals to Scripture in
order to show the value and acceptableness with God of
the course he recommends. His rule is sufficiently rigid ;
he praises a perpetual Xerophagia,^^ alternating with full
fasts. — For those initiated into the occult doctrines, this
is indispensable, or nearly so :^ but for the young and
uninitiated, he allows the use of roasted or boiled flesh
occasionally, with such vegetable food as may be eaten
uncooked; (c. 1.) and also wine, in small quantities, but
only that produced in the country of which the drinker is
an inhabitant ; all importation of foreign wines he forbids
as sinful, and counteracting the purpose of the Creator.^
(c. 2.) In the same spirit he entirely prohibits the use of
23 Phil. iv. 5.
24 See note 11.
25 7 Strom. § 6.
26 Tertullian utters exactly the same sentiment, with regard to the im-
portation and use of foreign articles of dress and ornament, in the precious
piece of spiritual buffoonery entitled De Halitu Muliehri^ c. 9. ; he declares
the very desire after them to be sinful concupiscence : and in a brochure of
still more wretched absurdity (if that be possible) De Virginibus velandis^
c. 10., he proclaims the unlawfulness and wickedness of the whole art of
dyeing, as a most impious interference with the order of providence ; " if
it had been the divine will," says this profound reasoner, " that wool should
be of a purple or scarlet hue, he would have created purple and scarlet
sheep." We will pursue the argument one step further ; if the dyeing of a
159
all costly furniture, (c. 3.) of all music except sacred, of
laughter in toto, (c. 5.) of perfumes and garlands,^^ (c. 8.)
fleece of wool be sinful, then is the manufacture of woollen cloth sinful
also: for, had it been intended that such a fabric should exist, sheep
would, doubtless, have been created with broad cloth, ready made, upon
their backs, instead of wool ! I have one other remark to make upon these
passages. A late writer greatly rejoices in the discovery, from a passage in
the book De Anima, (c. 30.) that TertuUian was an anti-populationist ; the
passage deeply deplores the dreadful evils of " pleasant farms smiling
where formerly were arid and dangerous wastes ; of flocks and herds expel-
ling wild beasts ; of harbours being excavated," and many other equally
calamitous results of a surcharge of people, and informs us, that ** in conse •
quence of these, we no longer look upon famine, and wars, and earthquakes
as positive evils, but remedies provided by Providence," &c. "Professor
Malthus himself," remarks the learned and enraptured divine, " could not
have lamented more feelingly the miseries resulting from an excess of popu-
lation ; or have pointed out with greater acuteness the natural checks to
that excess." Sorry as I am to damp the pleasure which those who think
with this author upon these subjects, will naturally feel at the discovery of
so early a proficient in theur favourite science, (and especially when it arises
from so rational and benevolent a source,) I am, nevertheless, compelled to
call their attention to the passages I have just quoted; which afford lament-
able proof, that however versed Tertullian may have been in the principles
of Professor Malthus, he was sadly to seek in those of Professor M'Culloch ;
and that, notwithstanding his acute apprehension of the evils of over-popu-
iation, he can scarcely, with propriety, be canonised as the Patron Saint of
Political Economy.
27 His reasons against the use of wreaths of flowers are manifolds—
1st. Because it is not proper to cull the fields of their beauties and weave
them together ; 2nd. because flowers worn in the hair refrigerate the brain,
and render the use of perfumes necessary as counteractives ; 3rd. because
no delight can accrue, either to the eye from the sight of them, or to the
olfactory organs from their perfume, when garlands of flowers are bound
round the hair, and thus the purpose of their creation is defeated ; 4th. be*
cause flowers were dedicated to heathen deities ; 5th. because our Lord was
crowned with thorns, and, therefore, it is highly unbecoming in his disciples
to be crowned with flowers." Extravagant and foolish as these reasons may
api>ear, they seem to have possessed considerable influence at the time*
Some of the worst of them will be found in Tertullian, de Corona MUitis^
C.6.
160
of ornamented sandals, (c. 11.) of gold, gems and em-
broidered garments,^^ (c. 12.) of feather beds and carved
bed-posts ; of sleep itself, his arguments against which
are perfectly laughable, (c. 9.) — ^nay, he carries his pro-
hibitions further than I sliall follow him. (c. 10.)
Now I am willing to admit that much allowance is to be
made here, for the state of extreme laxity in which the morals
of mankind were sunk, when Christianity first visited the
earth ; which compelled all the ethical writers of the times,
to enter into long dissuasives against excesses and vices, the
very name and remembrance of which have now happily pe-
rished, or are only called to mind to excite unqualified dis-
gust and abhorrence, even in the most profligate ; and in no
writer is this more apparent than in the author before us.
Nothing, we know, is more natural than that a mind im-
pressed by whatever cause, with the excellence of moral
virtue, but compelled, nevertheless, by the subject in hand,
to fix its constant regards upon so deformed a picture,
should, at length, start from it with horror, and fly into
the opposite extreme of a strict and unnecessary rigour.
It must also be thankfully acknowledged, that the rigour
28 The following invective against jewels, and the use of them by females,
from TertuUian, is a close approach to madness. " A pearl is nothing more
than the scurf of an oyster. — It is said that some precious stones are found in
the heads of serpents. — Be this far from a Christian woman, that she should
be indebted for her decorations to a serpent ! Will she tread upon the ser-
pent's head, while she binds that which came out of his head upon her own
bead ?" — De Cultu Mul.^ c. 6. All this is worthy of a book which com"
mences with a fierce philippic against the sex in general, to the following
tune ; " Evam te esse nescis O Mulier ? — Tu es janua diaboli,'' &c., &c.
He is far surpassed, however, by our Alexandrian philosopher, who, in
the place referred to, spiritualizes the pearl in a matchless strain of pure
pellucid nonsense. He talks of " the oysier regeneration adhering to the flesh
of him who is immersed in the baptismal waters, and producing the jyearl
Christ." TertuUian's, may be madness, but this is idiotcy.
161
I
so originated, was wonderfully overruled by the unerring
wisdom of the supreme Disposer of events, to the accom-
plishment of that great and universal moral purification
which certainly took place, when Christianity was estab-
lished as the religion of the empire, even its enemies being
the judges ; and to wliich we are indebted, in a much larger
measure than we imagine, for the greatly ameliorated cast
of manners that prevails in the present day.^^ But all this
affords not even the shadow of a defence for the error we
are considering. The present author also entirely over-
looked the reasons and motives with which the Bible would
have furnished him, and seeks the sanctions for his scheme
of morals, in the maxims of that very philosophy and hea-
thenism under whose full influences the horrible depravity
he describes had grown up. Where, we may well ask,
was the wisdom of rejecting that which he knew must suc-
29 We shall never know the extent of our obligations to Christianity.
The book we are now considering (the second Paedagogue) probably abounds
with more details of ancient manners and customs, than are contained
in any other work of antiquity. And the eye of God never gleamed with
indignation upon a scene of more desperate wickedness, and more aban-
doned profligacy, than was presented by the heathen world in the second
century. But it is delightful to observe the mild and gentle influences of
Christianity diffusing themselves through this mass of corruption, harmo-
nising its jarring elements, and rapidly raising the moral tone of society to
the standard of its own high and holy requisitions. The book before us is
in reality a description of this great work in process ; it is a series of con-
trasts between the existing manners of the Heathen, and the existing man-
ners of the Christians. — And no where, in my judgment, does this father
appear to so much advantage as here; where, in the true spirit of the
religion which he sincerely, though erroneously professed, he does not dis-
dain to employ his learning and eloquence, in enforcing upon the observance
of ordinary Christians, rules of conduct and good breeding, for the com-
mon occasions and occurrences of life. Though containing many errors
and absurdities, (which I scruple not at all, to expose,) there is, nevertheless,
no work of the early fathers which will better repay an attentive perusal,
than the second book of the Paedagogue.
M
loi
ceed, for the purpose of giving another trial to that, of
which he was surrounded with so many tokens that it had
signally failed ? But Clement's religion was altogether
" spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit after the tra-
dition of men and not after Christ."^ He had principle
enough to embrace and profess Christianity in times of
extreme peril, but he had not enough of the root of the
matter in him to enable him to cast down the idol of his
heart, philosophy, and honestly to receive Christ's doc-
trine as Christ in his word propounded it to him.
To pursue, for a moment, the comparison between
TertuUian and Clement. The former, though bitterly
hating the Gnosticism or philosophical Christianity of the
latter, never scrupled to borrow from philosophy either
opinions or motives that fell in with the impetuous and
headlong torrent of his argument ; as in the present in-
stance, where his reasons for the Christian fasts are alto-
gether those of the Pythagorean and Essenian ascetics,
though the source is unacknowledged. Clement, on the
other hand, glories in being the disciple of philosophy;
constantly quotes the philosophers in support of his canon
of discipline, which he does not conceal that he had
entirely borrowed from them ; nay, absolutely enjoins
upon Christians the use of the white garment of Pythago-
ras, on the authority of Plato.^^
Monachism and Asceticism, then, were introduced into
Christianity, not from the Bible, but from the Buddhisti-
cal or Pythagorean philosophy : and, like the other errors
30 Col. ii. 8.
'1 Paed. 2. c. 10., id. 3. c. 11. In this, doubtless, originated the white
Friars, &c., of the Roman Catholics, and probably also the Alb or Surplice ;
which, now that the habit controversy is as much forgotten as Clement's
Gnosticism, few, I think, will be found to deny that it is a harmless custom,
as it is certainly a decorous and highly becoming one.
I
163
we have considered, their mighty and baneful influence
continued to be exerted upon the visible church, ages after
the semi-heathenism which led to their introduction was
dispelled and forgotten.^-
32 According to the early fathers there were two ways of attahiing to
Christian Perfection The one was by martyrdom, which we shall shortly
have to consider, (Chapter XII.) ; the other was by the practice of such
a course of mortifications and macerations as should elevate the ascetic to
the divine impatibility of evil impressions. — See Clemens Alex. 4 Strom.
§ 22. a./., 5 Strom. § II. <^c., 7 Strom. § 14, 15. As this error, which is a
mere corollary of the Pythagorean doctrines we have been investigating,
was peculiar to those times and passed away with them, we shall not detain
the reader with quotations concerning it ; but rather illustrate its effects,
and those of the entire system, at a later period, by the following anecdote
from Cotelerius, p. 541., and Zciega, p. 343., ubi supra — " Father Maca-
rius relates, ' I was once in the desert, and there came to me two youths,
one of whom had a beard, but the other had only down upon his cheek ;'
and they said, ' we have heard of thy fame, and the fame of the desert, and
we are come to see thee,' and they bowed themselves to the ground and
said, ' we would dwell here.' And I saw that they had been brought up
delicately, and were the children of rich parents ; and I said, ' ye cannot
remain here ;' and the older said, ' then will we go to another place.' And
it came into my mind, why do I send them away that they may be offended,
labour will soon make them depart of themselves. So I said, ' come hither,
and build yourselves a cell if ye will ;' and they said, ' show us the place,
and we will build it.' Then one of the elders gave them tools, and a scrip
with bread and salt, and showed them the hard rock, and said, ' hew stones
from hence, and build your cell, and cut reeds from the marsh, and thatch it,
and then dwell in it ;' for he thought they would soon be weary of their
labour, and depart. But they finished it, and then came to me, and said,
* What shall we do in our cell ?' — and I said, ' make baskets ;' and I took
palm leaves, and showed them how to plait them, and join them together,
and I said, '• When ye have made baskets, take them to the steward, and he
will give you bread for them.' — Then I departed, and they meekly fulfilled
whatsoever I commanded them ; and for three years they never came to me.
Then I thought with myself, How is this ? They that dwell far off come to
me for spiritual advice, but these youths neither come to me, nor to any one;
only at church they receive the Eucharist in perfect silence. And I prayed
the Lord, with fasting, that he would reveal to me their manner of life.
I
Then I aro-se, and went to their cell, that I might see what they did. When
I knocked, they opened, and saluted me silently. And when I had prayed,
I sat down : and when the elder had made a sign to the younger to go out,
he sat and platted palm leaves, without uttering a word. And at the ninth
hour he struck the table lightly with his mallet, and the younger came in
and made a little pottage, and placed it on the table when the elder gave him
a sign to do so ; and he put three cakes of bread upon the table, and stood
silent. And I said, ' arise, let us eat ;' and we arose and ate. Then he
brought a pitcher of water, and we drank. And when the evening came,
the elder said to me, ' wilt thou depart ?' and I said, ' No ; but I will pass
the night here.* Then they spread a mat for me, and when I had laid down,
they spread their own mat at my feet, and loosed their cinctures, and lay
down in their garments. Then I besought the Lord that he would reveal
their spiritual state unto me. And at midnight the elder touched the side
of the younger, and they arose and girt themselves, and spread their hands
to heaven. I saw them, though they perceived it not, for they supposed
that I slept. Then were my eyes opened, and I saw that when the young-
est opened his mouth to pray, a lamp of fire went forth and ascended
upwards : but an unbroken column of flame issued from the mouth of the
elder and reached unto heaven. And I knew that the younger still strove
with the wicked one, but the elder had attained to perfection. I closed my
eyes, and passed the night in silent prayer. When I arose in the morning,
both were laid upon their mat, but they slept the sleep of death ! I called
the brethren together, saying, ' come see the martyrdom of the young
strangers!* We dug their grave in silence; we girded them with their
own cinctures. We laid them side by side, and covered them with the
sands of the desert."
If this be the true spirit of Christianity, far from being a blessing to
mankind, a vial more fully charged with the fierceness of the wrath of God
was never poured upon the earth, than its entire dispensation ! But, never-
theless, there is a frightful earnestness of sincerity in the deeply mistaken
pietism of these enthusiasts that never fails to rivet my attention to every
thing that relates to the fathers of the desert.
CHAPTER XI.
ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY AND PERSONS.
Having gone through the Ritual of Christianity in the
two first centuries, I now turn, reluctantly, to the uninvi-
ting, (and, to a layman, invidious) subject that remains,
before our view of the external discipline of the church,
during this period, is completed.
Upon the Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testa-
ment, conscious of my own inability to add at all to the
truths which have been elicited, by the long and irritating
discussions which that question has undergone, I shall not
presume to enter into any detail here ; but will rather
proceed, at once, to the passages in the early fathers
which appear to me to contain objectionable doctrines on
the point, and then give the places of Scripture upon
which my objections are founded.
In the epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, the fol-
lowing passage occurs : — " The chief priest has his proper
services ; and to the priests their proper place is assigned,
and to the Levites appertain their proper ministries ; and
the layman is confined within the bounds of what is com-
manded to laymen : let every one of you, therefore,
brethren, bless God in his proper station, not exceeding
the rule of service that is appointed to him. The daily
sacrifices are not offered every where, but only at Jerusa-
166
lem : not at any place there, but only at the altar before
the temple ; being first diligently examined by the high-
priest. The apostles have preached unto us from our Lord
Jesus Christ ; Jesus Christ from God, Christ, therefore, was
sent by God, the apostles by Christ ; so both were orderly
sent according to the will of God ; — these, being filled with
the Holy Spirit, went abroad, publishing that the king-
dom of God was at hand. — And thus preaching through
countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits of their
conversions to be bishops and deacons over such as should
afterwards believe, having first proved them by the Spirit.
— Nor was this any new thing ; seeing that long before it
was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus
saith the Scripture in a certain place, ' I will appoint their
bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith.' ^
And what wonder if they to whom such a work was com-
mitted by God in Christ, established such officers as we
have mentioned ; when even that blessed and faithful ser-
vant in all his house, Moses, set down in Holy Scriptures
all things that were commanded of him ?''"' After giving
the particulars of the miraculous selection of Aaron for
the priesthood, as related Num. xvii., he proceeds; —
" What think ye, brethren ? Did not Moses before know
what should happen ? Yes, verily ; but to the end there
might be no division nor tumult in Israel, he did in this
manner, that the name of the true and only God might be
glorified. — So, likewise, our apostles knew by our Lord
Jesus Christ that there should contentions arise upon
account of the episcopacy. — And, therefore, having a per-
fect foreknowledge of this, they appointed persons as we
have before said ; and then gave directions how, when
they died, other approved men should undertake their
1 isa. ix. 17.
167
office. — Wherefore, we cannot think, that those may be
justly thrown out of their office, who were either appointed
by them, or afterwards chosen by other eminent men, with
the consent of the whole church ; and who with all lowli-
ness and innocency ministered to the flock of Christ in
peace without self-interest ; and were for a long time com-
mended by all. — For it would be no small sin in us,
should we cast off those from the episcopate, who offer the
gifts holily and without blame. — Blessed are those presby-
ters who have finished their course before those times ; for
they have now no fear lest any one should turn them
out.'^
In this curious and very important passage there
are three points which demand our attentive consideration.
These are, the appointment, the order, and the authority
of the Christian ministry. The appointment was plainly
in the entire church ; the avowal of this fact^ in the pas-
sage before us, is corroborated by another, wherein he
advises the Corinthian ministers, concerning whom the
schism arose, to say, " if there be contention, and strife,
and schisms through me, I will leave you, I will go
wherever ye will, I will do whatever shall he decided
hy the majority,''''^ This mode of appointment took
2 Clem. Ep. ad Cor., § 40—44.
3 ffuviv^oKytffaffTis rris ixxktia-ixs 7ra.(rnSi u. s. § 44. Henry Hammond, an
advocate of the powers of the clergy, with more zeal than discretion, trans-
lates this ; applaudente, aut congratulante tota Ecclesia, and adds in a
triumphant parenthesis (nihil hie de acceptatione totius Ecclesiae) — Episco-
patus Jura^ p. 278. He forgot that he was establishing a distinction without
a difference ; for whether the church applauded or congratulated the
ordaining ministers, either act necessarily included the approval of their
choice, and consequently the acceptance of the object of it. Archbishop Wake
dare be honest ; and translates it " with the consent of the whole church ;"
which is certainly, and beyond all contro\ ersy, the right translation.
place on the death of the apostles; while they lived,
they themselves, or their immediate companions, ordained
elders,^ being inspired in their choice of persons by the
miraculous agency of the Spirit. That an arrangement so
important as this should not be mentioned or alluded to in
the canonical writings, is certainly a strong presumption
in favour of the opinion, that Ecclesiastical Polity formed
no part of the New Testament Revelation.
The order of the Ministry in the primitive church is
plainly declared in this passage. It recognises two degrees
of rank only for ecclesiastical persons ; the one named indif-
ferently bishops (overseers) and elders, the other deacons
or ministers. Several individuals of both these classes mi-
nistered to the church at Corinth.^ No very exact classi-
fication, however, seems to have been intended, by these
designations ; the duties of both are included in the terms,
episcopate,^ or office of a bishop, and diaconate,^ or office
of a deacon : — agreeing exactly with the little we find
upon this subject in the Scriptures. The Ephesian minis-
ters are termed presbyters, ^ and bishops ;^^ and in the
same passage, the office of St. Paul the apostle is styled,
" the office of a deacon."^^ St. Peter, in the same manner.
5 Tit. i. 6.
6 The endeavour to extend the superscription of this Epistle to the
whole of Achaia by the help of the phrase t55 UxXjja'/a <ra.poiKVff^ KapivBav ;
which they translate " the church dwelling at and near Corinth," instead of
** at Corinth," is a mere quibble ; for which the only excuse is, the spirit of
bitter vehemence in which the controversy was carried on by both parties.
See Hammond, Ep. Jur. Disser. 5. c. 2.
7 iirio'KOjrri-
3 XtiTHpyieCt itaxovix.
» Acts XX. 17.
10 Ver. 28.
U ^tecKaviKy v. 24.
169
exhorts the presbyters to fulfil the duties of a bishop ;^*
and St. Paul, in the epistle to the Hebrews, extends the
same exhortation to all sorts and conditions of men in the
church. ^^ That bishops and deacons were the only orders
known in the apostolic churches is also evident ; the epistle
to the Philippians is superscribed to the saints which are
in that city, with the bishops and deacons.
The authority of the Christian ministry, is by far the
most important question which the passage presents for
discussion. So great is the diversity of opinions upon this
point, that our safest course will be carefully to possess
ourselves of the New Testament doctrine regarding it,
before we proceed further.
The entire abolition of the Aaronical priesthood, to-
gether with the ritual administered by that order, is so
unequivocally declared, and made the basis of an argu-
ment which establishes one of the offices of our Lord,^^
that the fact can be no longer doubtful with those who
admit the authenticity of the Revelation. It follows, " that
the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity,
a change also of the law ;''^^ and surely, the law which
regarded the authority and maintenance of the order abo-
lished, would be among the first to undergo the change. —
No passage, therefore, from the Old Testament, prescri-
bing to either of these particulars, can, with any shadow
of propriety, be adduced in support of similar claims on
the part of the Christian ministry. There is an equal
impropriety in speaking of the ministers of Christ as the
successors, either to the authority of the Jewish priest-
hood, or to any of the titles or offices attached to that
institution. Most justly, therefore, in my opinion, did
12 1 Pet. V. 1, 2. 13 xii. 15. 14 Heb. v. vii— x.
15 Heb. vii. 12.
170
the early seceders from the Church of England object,
that in her ritual the elders were distinguished by a title
not descriptive of their office, and apt to mislead as to the
nature of it ; and in a spirit of candour, of which the
religious controversies of those days furnish us with but
few examples. Hooker, the great champion of episcopacy,
defers to this scruple ; and admits the expediency of
naming the second clerical order in the English church,
Presbyters, rather than Priests.^^ It is worthy of observa-
tion, that in the short passage in which the inspired apostle
St. Paul discusses the reasonable proposition that, " they
which preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel,"^'' he
seeks his Old Testament authority for it, in the general
benevolence of the great Creator, which did not even
pass by " the ox that treadeth out the corn,'''^^ not in the
ample provision which the same law secured to the Levi-
tical priesthood ; and when, in a subsequent verse he does
allude to it, the tenor of his allusion strictly accords with
our present view of the question. He uses it in illustration,
not as his authority : '' do ye not know that they which
minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple ?
and they which wait at the altar, are partakers with the
altar .^"^^ and, therefore, it was highly probable that a
similar provision would be made for the Christian ministry.
Such a provision, he is authorised to inform the Corinthians,
was made ; " for even so hath the Lord ordained, that they
that preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel.'*''^ But
evidently there would be no necessity for any new ordi-
nance, if the ministers of Christ were the legitimate
successors to the right of maintenance enjoyed by the
Jewish priesthood. The idea, therefore, of such succession
16 E«cl. Pol., b. 5. c. 78. 17 1 Cor. ix. 1—14. 18 Ver. 9.
l9Ver. 13. 30 Ver. 14.
I
171
cannot, by possibility, have occurred to the*
passage.
We infer that the Christian ministry
authority of prescription from the ordinances of
tical law, but merely that of precedent or analogy ; and,
consequently, that the origin of their power, or authority,
must be sought in the New Testament.
Our Lord's reply to the celebrated confession of
the apostle St. Peter has been interpreted as descriptive
of the power conferred upon the ministers of the Gospel
generally ; " I will give unto thee the keys of the king-
dom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."^^ Of the
same import is the charge which he gave to his disci-
ples on a subsequent occasion, wherein he enjoins them
to appeal to the whole church, or assembly, against a
trespassing brother, after more private methods of re-
buke shall have failed to produce amendment ; '' but if
he neglect to hear the church, let Wm be unto thee as
an heathen man, and a publican. Verily I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven. '"^ After his resurrection, our blessed Saviour was
pleased still more amply to confirm this commission.
'' Then said Jesus unto them, (that is, to a considerable
number of the disciples, who were assembled together,)
peace be unto you ! as my father hath sent me, even so send
I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them,
and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose-
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and
whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained. "^^
21 Matt. xvi. 19. 2i Matt, xviii. 15—18. 23 John xx. 19—23.
17^
It will be observed, that all the passages before us
treat of the same gift, or grace ; the two first containing
promises that it should be imparted to the disciples after-
wards, and the last being an account of the promised
communication. It must also be borne in mind, that the
power of the keys, whatever it may be, though in the first
passage promised to Peter only, was afterwards given to
all the apostles, and probably to the rest of the disciples
also. This consideration removes one of the difficulties in
the way of a right comprehension of its nature. The
manner in which it was communicated is also important.
" Our Saviour breathed upon his disciples, and said,
receive ye the Holy Ghost :*" plainly, therefore, the power
in question was a gift of the Holy Ghost. Let us now
endeavour to ascertain its nature. It is described to be,
the power of binding and loosing, or, in other words, of
remitting or retaining, the sins of men, with reference to
their future and everlasting condition. This promise is in
strict analogy with what is revealed in other parts of Holy
Writ. No truth is more explicitly disclosed than that
judgment shall be committed to the saints of the Most
High. The twelve apostles " shall sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'"^'* " The saints shall
judge the world," yea, " they shall judge angels i"^^ And
though the latter passages refer to times and events per-
fectly distinct from the former, yet we can discern, as
through a glass darkly, the order and divine harmony of
that arrangement which employs the same instrumentality
to edify the church militant, in a world that lieth in
wickedness, and to minister to the church triumphant,
in the new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth right-
eousness.
24 Matt. xix. 28. 25 i Cor. vi. 2, 3.
173
Taking from hence a caution lest our interpretations
of these, or any places of Scripture, convict themselves of
error by their discordance with other revealed truths, let
us return to the subject before us. We ask with the
patriarch of old, " shall not the judge of all the earth do
right,'''^ and then appeal to the understanding of any one,
if it be possible to reconcile with this his essential attribute
of justice, the commission of the final adjudication of the
eternal destinies of mankind, to the limited faculties and
biassed judgments of their fallible and sinful fellow-men ?
The reply will be given unhesitatingly ; if our conceptions
of the mutual relations between God and man be taken
from Revelation, a proposition could hardly be framed
which will so grossly violate our notions of propriety and
justice on the subject, as this. We willingly forbear to
amplify on an idea from which the mind naturally revolts ;
but at once infer, that, however high the authority upon
which the contrary may have been asserted, the notion that
the fiats of eternity were committed either to the apostles,
unassisted by the miraculous presence of the Holy Ghost,
or to the ministers of the Gospel, in virtue of the apostolic
succession, is so plainly contradictory to the whole scope of
Revelation, that such cannot possibly be the meaning of
the passages before us.
We have, therefore, to enquire into the mode in
which this promise of Christ to the apostles received its
fulfilment. This, we conceive, would be accomplished to
the letter, if by miraculously illuminating their under-
standings, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, he
imparted such an insight into the hearts of men, and
into the councils of Omniscience, and so supernaturally
guided their judgments upon these, that what they de-
26 Gen. xviii. 25.
174
creed on earth, that would the God of justice ratify in
heaven.
The inspired history of the apostles informs us that
they were actually possessed of this power. The first in-
stance of its exercise is recorded in the melancholy story
of Ananias and Sapphira/^ the particulars of which are
too well known to need that they should be repeated here.
The miraculous power exercised by St. Peter upon this
occasion, was of a very extraordinary character. He was
inspired by the Spirit of Omniscience with a perfect
knowledge of the transaction he rebuked, though in no
way whatever privy to it, and of the thoughts and intents
of the hearts of its guilty perpetrators : and thus instinct
with the Deity, he declared the sin of those who attempted
to deceive him in his apostolical character, to be, " lying
unto the Holy Ghost : lying not unto man, but unto God :""
and the Lord confirmed his words with signs following :
the instant death of both the offenders, bore an awful tes-
timony to the literal truth of his declaration. That in
conferring these extraordinary powers upon St. Peter, our
Lord abundantly fulfilled the promise he had made to him,
will, I think, scarcely be denied. It was manifest that the
keys of the kingdom of heaven were in his hands ; and that
which he bound on earth was, by a terrific display of the
divine vengeance against lying and hypocrisy, hurried
instantly away to the judgment-seat of God, in order that,
as we have reason to fear, the fiat of the inspired apostle
might be ratified to all eternity in heaven.
We find St. Peter exercising the same miraculous
power in the case of Simon Magus.^* By that supema^
tural discernment of spirits, wherewith he was gifted, he
denounced him as being "in the gall of bitterness and
27 Acts V. 1—12. 28 Acts viii. 20, 22.
175
bond of iniquity ;'''' though the proposal he made, would
seem, in a young convert, to partake as much of ignorance
as of sin.^
The same fearful power of discerning the heart, and
decreeing the punishment, was also possessed by St. Paul
the apostle. When his attempt to convince Sergius Paulus
of the truth of Christianity at Paphos, was withstood by
Elymas the sorcerer, " he set his eyes on him, being full
of the Holy Ghost, and said, O full of all subtilty, and
all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all
righteousness !"^ Now it was not possible to infer all
this, from the mere circumstance that he withstood the
the gospel when he first heard it : the apostle himself
had done so, and as he informs us, " ignorantly in
unbelief." But the miraculous blindness which imme-
diately fell upon Elymas, in obedience to St. Paul's
imprecation, was an unanswerable proof that herein he
spoke the words of truth and soberness : consequently a
supernatural insight into the heart and conscience of the
culprit had been afforded him, and full of the Holy
Ghost, illuminating his understanding, and directing his
judgment, " that which he bound on earth was bound in
heaven."
We may observe the same, in the healing of the cripple
29 According to the early fathers, Simon Magus was afterwards the
author of a very gross departure from the true doctrine of the Gospel. We
would only observe that one material part of the story was certainly a mis-
take : they supposed that Simon had been worshipped at Rome, under the
title of " the holy God." Probably the same statue that was seen by the
early Christians, has since been dug up ; it is inscribed to the Sabine deity,
Semon : they were misled by the resemblance of the names. As the whole
story hinges upon this mistake, I cannot help hoping that it is a fable, and
that Simon profited by the good advice of the inspired apostle.
30 Acts xiii. 6—12.
176
at the temple gate.^^ The steadfast beholding of him by
the two apostles, and the command " look on us," which
are so minutely particularized, doubtless referred to the
exercise of that supernatural faculty which enabled them
to discern whether in his heart he had faith to be
healed.
Here, then, is a gift of the Holy Ghost, literally ful-
filling the terms of our Saviour's promise, and conferred
upon St. Peter and the apostles : the individuals to whom
it was promised. The purpose also which it subserved in
their most arduous labours was that, to accomplish which
the power of the keys was to be imparted. The context
which introduces the promise of it to St. Peter reads,
" thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."^^
Now if, according to the natural import of the words,
Peter was the rock upon which the church was to be built,
the promised power will necessarily be conducive to that
edification. And we find that the other passages, wherein
it is mentioned, are also accompanied by allusions to the
same purpose, to be accomplished by it. But nothing was
of such vital importance to laying the foundation of the
church of Christ, as that discernment of spirits which
enabled the apostles and disciples to detect and expel
hypocritical converts : and in the ordination of the minis-
try, to lay hands on such men only as were prepared by
the grace of God to undergo the fiery trial which awaited
them, and to persevere in the work unto the end. The
power of the keys, therefore, was a miraculous gift of the
Holy Ghost, imparted to the apostles and their cotempo-
raries, for the same purpose as the power of working
miracles generally, that of laying the foundation of the
31 Acts iii. 1—8. 32 Matt. xvi. 18.
177
church of Christ on earth. In common with other gifts
of the same nature, it was promised to the disciples by our
Saviour after nis resurrection,^^ as well as before his death ;
like them also it was promised, without any allusion what-
ever to the period of its continuance or cessation, by him
who spake, not as man but as God, who " seeth the end
from the beginning,'" and " with whom one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.'" Never-
theless, we discover in the mode of speech adopted by our
Lord on this occasion, a corroboration of the opinion we
have ventured to express. Peter with the power of the keys
was the rock upon which Christ would build his church.
He was, therefore, the foundation, not the superstruc-
ture ; and the allusion is to the commencement, not to the
progress, of the symbolical edifice. We cannot speak,
therefore, of the successors of St. Peter and the apostles
inheriting the power of the keys in virtue of that suc-
cession, without introducing an intolerable violation of
the propriety of the metaphor ; for then the church is
built, not '' upon the foundation of apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ;" but
upon the foundation of the bishop for the time being,
every successive bishop being, of necessity, a new foun-
dation.
The inference, we conceive, is inevitable. The power
of the keys was one of those miraculous gifts of the Spirit
which, as we have seen, so soon passed away from the
church ; and, consequently, the claims of the Christian
ministry to authority cannot, with safety, be rested there.
For no inference is more natural, than that all the authori-
tative acts of persons thus endued, can by no means be
pleaded as precedents for similar acts on the part of their
33 See Mark xvi. 15-.18.
178
successors in the ministry, unless they also are themselves
gifted with the same miraculous powers.^*
Bearing this in mind, we proceed to the passages
which actually confer authority upon the Christian
ministry.
The first class of them we shall notice, are those
which establish orders, or distinctions, of rank in the
church. St. Paul, in two places, illustrates this by the
analogous constitution of the human body;^ which
consists of many members, some in superior, and others
in subordinate capacities ; but all harmonized into entire
subserviency to the head. In the same manner is the
church the body of Christ, the head, and the indivi-
duals composing it, members in particular. The meaning
cannot be mistaken ; St. Paul certainly adopts this
illustration for the same purpose as that for which it was
originally used in the form of an apologue,^ to enforce the
necessity of subordinations of rank, in all associations of
men, whether civil or ecclesiastical ; and the duty of
obedience on the part of those in the inferior stations, to
those who fill the superior ones. No more satisfactory
authority could be desired, either for the setting apart of a
distinct order of men for the office of the ministry, or for
the deference and respect due to them, from those among
whom they minister in holy things.
The next point which calls for our consideration is the
power entrusted with the clergy, and the measure of
obedience to which that order is entitled. The directions,
34 TertuUian uses exactly the same argument, and from the same
instances in Scripture, though for a very different purpose ; he wishes to
prove thereby that the church has not the same unlimiteil power of pardon-
ing offences as was possessed by the apostles.— Z)& Pudicitiaf c. 21.
35 Rom. xii. 4, 5. 1 Cor. xii. 14—27.
36 Tit. Liv. 2, 32.
179
though by no means copious, for it was not a theme upon
which the apostles, like some of their successors, loved to
dwell, are, nevertheless, sufficient to guide us to a right
perception both of the nature and necessity of this Chris-
tian duty. The disciple of Christ is required to " know
them which are over him in the Lord, and admonish him ;
and to esteem them very highly in love for their work^s
sake.""^ He is exhorted to receive the ministers of his
Divine Master, " with all gladness, and to hold them in
reputation.""^ " They that labour in the word and doc-
trine are to be counted worthy of double honour.""^ The
laity generally are also repeatedly enjoined to submit
themselves to the ministry.'^ The honorary titles applied
to the clergy perfectly correspond with the spirit of these
admonitions. They are repeatedly styled, " elders," hav-
ing the rule over their people ;'^^ " stewards of the myste-
ries of God ;''''^ nay, in their capacity of preachers of the
gospel, " ambassadors of Christ, by whom God speaks,"
exhorting their people "in Christ's stead."^ It will be
observed, that in the places of Holy Writ here cited, the
claims to authority and obedience are not founded upon
the supernatural powers possessed by the first ministers of
the Gospel, but upon those which they had in common
with all who, at any subsequent period, should faithfully
discharge the duties of that office. — Beyond all question,
therefore, their application is universal.
Nor are we left in doubt as to the rule and measure
of our obedience to the ministry ; it is exactly prescribed,
and with an exquisite adaptation to the entire system of
Christianity, which conspicuously shows forth the infinite
37 1 Thess. V. 12, 13. 38 phil. ii. 29. 39 i Tim. v. 17.
40 1 Cor. xvi. 16. 1 Pet. v. 5., &c. 41 Heb. xiii. 17, &c.
42 1 Cor. iv. i. 43 2 Cor, v. 19.
180
wisdom that contrived it. — '' Obey them that have the
rule over you, (says the apostle to the Hebrews,) and
submit yourselves :"" — ^but it was no blind subjugation of
the understanding that the apostle sought to accomplish ;
he immediately gives a reason for it, of all others the most
cogent, ''for they watch for your souls as they that must
give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with
grief."^'^ One purpose, therefore, and one only, is to be
answered by the required submission ; the spiritual edifica^
tion of the persons submitting themselves. This doctrine
is still more unequivocally laid down in the same apostle's
account of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and of the ecclesi-
astical orders consequent thereupon, in the early church.—
'' He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfect-
ing of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ.'^''^ It is not in words more
exactly to define, or more strictly to limit, the objects
for which spiritual authority was conferred by the Holy
Ghost. The writer of this passage obviously regarded the
church of Christ as a body mystical, not as a body politic ;
and the ranks and orders in which spiritual authority ori-
ginate were, in his apprehension, merely means, subserving
the edification of the mystical church, not the end, confer-
ring a political incorporation upon the visible one. The
measure, then, of this obedience, is laid down in such
terms as cannot be misunderstood. We are required to
yield to our spiritual pastors that degree of deference which
shall best subserve our own growth in grace, and the
advancement of the work of the ministry. Nor is this a
question left to the decision of either the rulers or the ruled,
exclusively: both are required to exercise their understand-
44 Heb. xiii. 17. « Eph. iv. 11, 12.
I
181
ings upon it, as intelligent beings, and then in simplicity
and godly sincerity to follow the dictates of conscience. —
When this is the case, it will invariably be found that
more than is exacted by the one, will be willingly yielded
by the other.
With this view of the subject, all the passages of the
New Testament, touching ecclesiastical discipline, are in
perfect harmony. Those that illustrate the constitution of
the church by that of the human body, to which we have
already alluded, refer to the subordinations of the various
members, as mere adaptations to the purpose and conveni-
ence of the head, Christ. And in the same meek and
lowly spirit, St. Paul speaks of his own most successful
labours at Corinth : — " Who is Paul, and who is Apol-
los, but minister s"^^ by whom ye have believed, even as
the Lord gave to every man ? I have planted, ApoUos
watered, but God gave the increase. So then, neither
is he that planteth any thing, nor he that watereth ; but
God that giveth the increase.""^^ In another place he dis-
claims all idea of having " dominion over the faith"" of his
Corinthian converts, and styles himself and his brethren
in the ministry, " helpers of their joy.""^ With still more
fervency does the same apostle disown all power of author-
itative interference in the epistle to Timothy: — "The
servant of the Lord must not strive ; but be gentle unto
all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves.*""^^ Hereunto also agree the
other inspired writers of the New Testament. St. Peter
exhorts the elders to " feed the flock of God not as lords
over God's heritage, but as ensamples to the flock"".^ The
lamp of revelation, then, sheds its clear and unerring light
^6 hxKovoi. 47 1 Cor. iii. 5—7. "*« 2 Cor. i. 24.
49 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25. ^ I Pet. v. 2, 3.
182
upon the general question of ecclesiastical discipline, as
well as upon every other point of Christian practice. —
Avoiding, as on other questions, particular rules, we find
that two general directions are deducible from what is
written regarding it. The one is, that a distinct order of
men is to be set apart for the work of the ministry : — the
other, that such a measure of authority shall be conferred
upon them, as may best subserve, " the perfecting of the
saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying of the body
of Christ.''' This is its exact measure ; and all deviations
from it, whether in defect or excess, are equally condemned
by the inspired writers. But our Lord's kingdom is not
of this world ; to accomplish direct changes in the political
condition of mankind, formed no part of the object of his
mission : nevertheless, the social relations of men are so
modified by this and other causes, as continually to alter,
at different periods, and in different countries, the measure
of authority which shall enable the ministers of Christ's
religion effectually to discharge the functions of their
office. Hence it is, that in a revelation which is given for
all time, such general principles alone are laid down as
shall bring the question fairly within the reach and com-
pass of the human understanding ; the framing of the
particular rules to meet each emergency that may arise,
being left to its conscientious exercise.
Such appears to me to be the New Testament doctrine
on the pastoral authority of the clergy. We now return
to Clement of Rome, in order to ascertain the opinions he
promulgated upon this important subject.
If I rightly apprehend the scope and design of the
entire epistle, it is to exhort the laity of the church of
Corinth to obedience to the clergy. The question where-
upon the schism it rebukes had aiisen appears to have
183
been one of discipline, not of doctrine. — Certain persons*^
had elevated themselves to the office of the ministry, or
been irregularly appointed to it by the people. St. Clement
wrote to the Corinthian church to procure their degrada-
tion, and the establishment of the regular clergy ; who
had either been ordained by St. Peter and St. Paul, (both
of whom had then suffered martyrdom, ^2) or by other
eminent men, with the consent of the whole assembly.^
The question, therefore, of the apostolic succession, and of
the authority derived from thence to the Christian ministry
is at issue ; and it is material to enquire if herein he has
written according to the mind of the Spirit, which we have
already endeavoured to ascertain from Holy Scripture.
The origin of this " sedition against the presbyters"
(as he calls it, c. 47.) he declares to be envy. He illustrates
its evil effects by the cases of Cain and Abel, of Jacob
and Esau, of Moses and the two contending Hebrews, of
Aaron and Miriam, of Dathan and Abiram, and of David
and Saul, (c. 5.) To the workings of the same bad pas-
sion he ascribes the persecution and death of the apostles,
confessors, and martyrs of his own times; and he thus
completes his climax of the evils which envy has occasioned,
— " In a word, envy and strife have overturned whole
cities, and rooted out great nations from off the earth.""
(cc. 5, 6.)
He draws from hence an exhortation " to come up to
the rule of our glorious and revered calling," and to
repentance: he endeavours to incite the Corinthians to
seek after this last grace, by the example of Noah and the
antediluvians, Jonah and the Ninevites, and two passages
from the prophets.^"^ (cc. 7, 8.) He calls upon them to
51 C. 47., et alibi passim. 52 c. 5. 53 c. 44.
54 Isa. i. 10, e. s. .ler. iii. 4, 19,
1B4
cast themselves upon the mercy of God, ^' laying aside all
vain labour and contentions, and envy which leads unto
death.""^ The repentance to which he exhorts them being
a return to their former submission to the regularly or-
dained clergy. He proceeds to enforce the excellencies
and advantages of obedience, by the examples of Abraham
obeying the call of God, of Lot leaving Sodom, and the
not very pertinent one of Rahab the harlot and the spies.
(cc. 10—12.)
Having thus endeavoured to turn them by repent-
ance from their evil courses, the next grace which
he recommends to their practice is humility : — " Let us,
therefore, humble ourselves, brethren, laying aside all
pride, and boasting, and foolishness, and anger.'" He
enforces this by quotations from the Old and New Testa-
ment.^ His inference is as follows : — " it is, therefore,
just and righteous, brethren, that we should become obe-
dient unto God, rather than follow such as through pride
and sedition have made themselves the ringleaders of a
detestable emulation." (c. 14.) He exhorts them to meek-
ness and gentleness, and declares that the regular clergy
only are men of peace, and worthy to be obeyed. — The
intruders talk of peace indeed, but it is only pretence*
Then follow several perfectly inapplicable texts from the
Psalms, strung together by way of invective, (c. 14.)
Afterwards, he once more returns to humility, which
he recommends by the example of Christ, whose proficiency
in this grace he endeavours to show by quoting the fifty-
third of Isaiah entire, and part of the twenty-second Psalm ;
(c. 16.) — the humility of Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel the
prophets, is also commended ; it consisted in their going
about in sheep-skins and goat-skins. — Abraham is also
w C. 9. 56 jer. ix. 23. Luke vi. 36. Isa. Ixvi. 2. Id., xui.
185
praised for his humility, because, in addressing the Almighty,
he uttered the words, " Behold, I am but dust and ashes."^^
Job is commended in like manner, for a similar confes-
sion.^ The humility of Moses is next lauded, in acknow-
ledging his own want of eloquence, when God first called
him,^^ (c. 17.) and from him he proceeds to David, of whose
humility he finds a pregnant proof in the fifty-first Psalm,
the whole of which he quotes, (c. 18.) He reminds them,
that these examples were written for their learning, and
then commends humility and patience to them by the
example of God himself; his proof of the patience and
humility of the Almighty, he discovers in the works of
Providence, (cc. 19, 20.)
In the course of it, he passes from this view of his
subject, to another, that of the order observed throughout
all his works ; he infers that a similar order has been
established in the church, and, consequently, that all
departure from that order is an act of great sin. — " Let us
not, then, forsake our ranks®^ by doing contrary to his
will. — Let us choose to offend a few foolish and inconside-
rate men, lifted up and glorying in their own pride, rather
than God. — Let us honour those that are set over us;
let us respect the presbyters that are among us; let us
instruct the young men in discipline by the fear of the
Lord." He then digresses into a general exhortation to
Christian duties ; (c. 21.) and, after dwelling upon them
at some length, he again returns to the subject of the
epistle : — " Let us, therefore, march on, men and brethren,
with all earnestness in his holy laws. Let us consider
those that fight under our earthly governors : how orderly,
how readily, with what exact obedience, they perform
57 Gen. xviii. 27- ^ xiv. 4. 59 Exod. iii. 11.
60 Ktirora»ri7v, desert.
those things that are commanded them : all are not pre-
fects, or chiliarchs, or centurions, or commanders of fifty,
and so on ; but every one in his proper rank does what is
commanded him, by the king and those in authority over
him. — The great cannot subsist without the little, nor the
little without the great. — But there must be a mixture in
all things, and then there will be use and profit too. Let
us, for example, take our body ; the head without the feet
is nothing: neither the feet without the head. — But all
conspire together, and are subject to one common use,
namely, the preservation of the body. (c. 37-) Let, there-
fore our whole body be saved in Jesus Christ, and let
every one be subject to his neighbour, according to the
order in which he is placed by his gift.^^ Let not the
strong despise the weak, and let the weak see that he reve-
rence the strong." He speaks in the same manner of the
gifts of riches, wisdom, humility, and continence.
After another invective against the schismatical clergy,
which has more of the character of railing, than is consis-
tent, either with the dignity or propriety of the subject,
(c. 39.) he thus introduces the passage which is already
before the reader : — '' Seeing, then, that these things are
manifest unto us, it will behove us to take care that, look-
ing into the depths of the divine knowledge, we do all
things in order, whatsoever our Lord has commanded us
to do : particularly, that we perform our offerings and
service at their appointed seasons," &c. A few more
remarks upon times and seasons of worship, which we
have already quoted,^^ precede the passage in question ;
the argument of which is of easy comprehension. — Be-
61 ^afuriAo,. See 1 Cor. xii. 5. ; but no miraculous gift is here alluded
to, as the context shows.
62 Chap. VIII., p. 118.
I
187
cause there were courses of priests and Levites in the
temple at Jerusalem, which was then standing, therefore,
there ought to be orders in the Christian church also. —
And because the apostles were sent by Christ, and Christ
by God, therefore, those whom they ordained as presby-
ters and deacons succeeded to their authority. This argu-
ment he attempts to corroborate by the circumstance,
that the apostles left directions for the ordination of minis-
ters after their departure : these he conjectures to have
originated in their foreknowledge of the schisms that
would arise on account of the ministry. He considers the
case to be exactly parallel with that of the miraculous
choice of Aaron ; and supposes it to have been foretold in
an unknown, and probably accommodated, Greek version
of a passage of Isaiah. (We shall hereafter consider the
mode of quoting and explaining Scripture used by Cle-
ment and his cotemporaries.) He infers, that in virtue of
the apostolical succession, as well as of their innocent and
holy lives, they cannot be displaced from their office ; nor
can any one refuse a degree of submission and respect,
which he elsewhere describes by the expression, " bending
the knees of the heart,"^ without being guilty of a sin
equal to that of disobedience to God. To this submission
therefore, he exhorts them at considerable length, to the
conclusion of the epistle.
It will be perceived by this long analysis, which was
rendered necessary by the loose and parenthetical style of
the writer, that the question regarding the ministry was
one of the earliest that disturbed the peace of the church.
As he makes no allusion to the plea upon which the schis-
matics sought to displace the Corinthian ministers, we can
of course form no judgment upon it. The cessation of the
«3 c. 57.
power of working miracles among them, and the bolder
pretensions to these gifts of the intruders, would seem to be
a very probable one.
I will commence my remarks upon this ancient
document by stating my full belief, that the object of St.
Clement and the church at Rome, in addressing this epistle
to the church at Corinth, was a highly laudable one. The
discarded clergy were, beyond all doubt, men of blameless
and edifying conversation ; had it been otherwise, the fact
would not have been stated so boldly and repeatedly : this
alone is enough to criminate the individuals who displaced
them, by whatever means. Equally ready am I to
acknowledge, that it contains some beautiful passages,
conceived in the true spirit of primitive Christianity. Nor
do I deny that parts of it display considerable intellectual
powers ; as for instance, the argument for subordination in
the church from analogy^"^ is extremely well managed and
expressed, and will not suffer by comparison with any
cotemporary production. But, notwithstanding, there is
too m.uch evidence that upon the question before us St.
Clement had grievously departed from the spirit and design
of the New Testament. We have already shown that there,
the authority of the ministry was viewed in no other light
than that of a means subserving an end, that end being the
diffusion of Christianity. But with Clement the pastoral
authority is the end, to which he propounds the entire
cycle of Christian motives as means subservient. He cites
a cloud of witnesses from the Old Testament ; but whatever
be the nature of their virtues or their vices, he arranges
them all (in some cases at a large expense of sound reason-
ing) under the two categories of obedience and disobedience
to spiritual authority. Yet, the question was merely one
w c. 37.
189
of succession : no difference of opinion, upon any of the
doctrines of Christianity, existed between the regular and
schismatical clergy at Corinth : such difference is not even
hinted at; and his advice to the apostolic presbyters to
leave the church rather than continue the schism, (c. 54.)
reduces it to an absolute certainty. Had the schismatics
held also heretical opinions, he would unquestionably have
called upon them to suffer martyrdom on the spot, rather
than leave their flock to the guidance of false teachers.
It is happily in our power to produce a precisely
similar instance, which occurred to an inspired apostle.
St. Paul writes thus to the Philippians: — " I would ye
should understand, brethren, that the things which hap-
pened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the Gospel ; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in
all the palace, and in all other places ; and many of the
brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are
much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some
indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife ; and some
also of good will ; the one preach Christ of contention, not
sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds ; but the
other of love."^^ Here is a much worse case of exactly
the same schism as that described by St. Clement. Here
is a rebellion, not against the presbyters ordained by the
apostles, but against an apostle himself, in the plenary
exercise of all the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Taking a mean and cruel advantage of his bonds for
Christ's sake, these schismatics contemptuously defied his
pastoral authority, and preached Christ of contention, not
sincerely ; vilifying his apostle at the same time, in the
malicious hope of adding affliction to his tedious imprison-
ment. Their motive, also, in obtruding their unauthorised
6'i Phil. L 2—17.
190
ministrations upon the church at Rome, is the same as that
of the Corinthian dissentients, " strife and envy." Now
it is impossible, that the sin of the one, should not be much
greater than the sin of the other. At Corinth they only
rebelled against presbyters whose highest honour it would
be, to have received ordination at the hand of an apostle ;
while at Rome they set at nought the spiritual jurisdiction
of an apostle himself. Surely if St. Clement had scrip-
tural authority at all, for the heinous and aggravated
character he assigned to the sin of the Corinthian church,
and for the severe reproof he administered to the schisma-
tics, he must have found it in this passage. And yet a
more perfect contrast is scarcely conceivable. The whole
thunder of St. Clement's rebuke is aimed at their
intrusion into the office of the successors of the apostles ;
St. Paul, in the same circumstances, rebukes nothing but
the contentious and envious spirit, and insincerity of the
schismatics. All the fervours of St. Clement's eloquence
are directed against the ministrations of the rebellious ; his
avowed object is to silence them, and reduce them to the
most abject submission to the regular clergy : but St. Paul
rejoices in their ministrations : — " What then ! notwith-
standing every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ
is preached ; and I therein do rejoice, yea and will rejoice."^
The conclusion is inevitable : the objects which these
eminent servants of God had in view were totally different.
The apostle regarded, with a single eye, the edification of
the mystical body of Christ, or, in other words, the diffu-
sion of the Gospel among men ; and in whatever promoted
that he rejoiced. His successor, on the other hand, scarcely
looked beyond the maintenance and enlargement of the
pastoral authority of the ministry, in order to the founda^
66 Idem V. 18.
191
tioii and building up of the visible church on earth, as a
})olitical incorporation.
It now becomes my painful duty to state, that the
whole of Christian antiquity is leavened with this wretched
error. When the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost
departed from the earth, with the apostles and primitive
disciples, it was a natural and inevitable consequence that
the power and influence of the Christian ministry would be
materially diminished ; and instead of resting their claims
upon the apostolic writings, this was the figment which
was raised by their successors to uphold the authority of
their order.
Its dimensions are more perfectly developed in the
next author to whom our attention is to be directed.
Ignatius soars with a bolder wing, and exalts the authority
of the clergy to a still more perilous elevation, than even
Clement.
We can have no stronger proof of the overwhelming
importance which was attached to this question by the
primitive church than the circumstance, that out of the
seven extant epistles which this blessed martyr wrote during
his forced journey to Rome, the place of his martyrdom,
six of them are so pervaded with incessant and vehement
exhortations to a submission to the bishops and clergy, as
unlimited and universal as words can express, as to render
it perfectly evident that this was really the only purpose of
the writer in sending them. So entirely absorbed is his
whole soul in the accomplishment of this purpose, that
no consideration, either from reason or Scripture, seems to
have power, for a moment, to check the mad career of his
turgid and bloated, but often eloquent, declamation ; or to
deter him from working up his exhortations to the highest
pitch of hyperbole.
192
In the following extract from the epistle to the Ephe-
sians, it will be observed that he follows the preceding
writer in loudly commending unity in the church, — an
object perfectly scriptural and highly desirable ; but,
nevertheless, we take leave to doubt that the mode in which
Clement and Ignatius propose to accomplish it is either the
one or the other : the New Testament no where enjoins the
entire submission of the faculties of body and soul, to the ab-
solute and uncontrolled domination of the clergy, as the means
whereby the laity -are to promote the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace. But such was the doctrine of Clement,
and it is still more broadly and unequivocally laid down by
Ignatius. " As love suffers me not to be silent concerning
you, I have taken upon me to exhort you, that ye would
all run together according to the mind of God. For even
Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the mind of the
Father, even as the bishops appointed unto the utmost
bounds of the earth, are according to the mind of Christ.
Wherefore it will become you to run together according
to the mind of your bishop, as also ye do. For your
celebrated^^ presbytery, worthy of God,^^ is fitted as
exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp : there-
fore, in your like-mindedness and concordant love, Jesus
Christ is sung, and every single person among you makes
up the chorus : that so being all consonant in love, and
taking up the song of God, ye may in a perfect unity, with
one voice, sing to the Father by Jesus Christ ; to the end
that he may both hear you, and perceive, by your works,
that ye are indeed the members of his Son. Wherefore it
is profitable for you to live in a spotless unity, that ye
may always have fellowship with God. For if I in this
little time have had such a familiarity with your bishop,
193
now much more must I think you happy who are so
united*"^ to him as tlie church is to Jesus Christ and Jesus
Christ to the Father ; that so all things may agree in the
same unity ! Let no man deceive himself ; if a man be
not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God.
He, then, that does not come together in the same place
with the church is proud, and has already condemned
himself: for it is written ' God resisteth the proud.** Let
us take heed, therefore, that we do not set ourselves
against the bishop, that we may be subject to God.
Whomsoever the master of the house sets to be over his
own household, we ought, in like manner, to receive him
as we would do him that sent him. — It is, therefore, evi-
dent, that we ought to look upon the bishop even as we
would do upon the Lord himself, """^^ He states the same
strange doctrine, and, if possible, in language still more
unequivocal, in the epistle to the Magnesians. — " It
behoves you with all sincerity to obey your bishop, in
honour of Him whose pleasure it is that you should do so.
— He that obeys him with hypocrisy, deceives not the
bishop, but affronts God.'*'''^ Unity is likewise enjoined,
and on the same principle : — " I exhort you, that ye study
to do all things in a divine concord, your bishop presiding
in the place of God ; your presbyters in the place of the
council of the apostles : and your deacons most sweet unto
me, being entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ."^^
Again, " As, therefore, the Lord did nothing without the
Father being united to him — ^neither by himself nor yet by
his apostles — so neither do ye any thing without your
bishops and presbyters : neither endeavour to let any
thing seem reasonable to yourselves apart ;" that is, do not
69 Mixed. 70 Ign. ad Ephes., cc. 4—6. 7i C. 3.
72 C. C.
194
think for yourselves, without the sanction of the clergy 7^
He repeats his call to subjection at the conclusion, thus : —
" Be subject to your bishop and to one another as Jesus
Christ to the Father, according to the Jiesh.'''''^^
The epistle to Tralles only differs from that which
precedes it, in stating the same doctrine still more objec-
tionably : — " Whereas ye are subject to your bishop as to
Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after the manner
of men, but according to Jesus Christ. It is, therefore,
necessary that without your bishop ye should do nothing :
also be ye subject to your presbyters as to the apostles
of Jesus Christ ; in whom if ye walk ye shall be found
in him.7^ Again, " let all reverence the deacons as Jesus
Christ, and the bishop as the Father ; and the presby-
ters as the Sanhedrim of the apostles. Without these
there is no church?^ He that is within the altar is pure ;
but he that is without, that is, that does any thing without
the bishop, and presbyters, and deacons, is not pure in
his conscience."'^^
The epistle to the Philadelphians is addressed to those
especially of that church who are " at unity with the
bishop and presbyters who are with him, and the deacons
appointed according to the mind of Jesus Christ ; whom
he has settled according to his own will, in all firmness by
his Holy Spirit.*" After commending the holiness of the
bishop of Philadelphia in a strain which is somewhat high
wrought, to say the least, and vehemently exhorted them
to follow him implicitly,^® he proceeds : — " As many as are
of God and of Jesus Christ, are also with their bishop. —
Be not deceived, brethren : if any one follows him that
makes a schism in the church, he shall not inherit the
73 C. 7. 74 C. 13. 75 Ign. ad Trail., c. 2. 76 C. 3.
77 C. 7. 78 Cc. 1, 2.
195
kingdom of God : if any one walks after any other opinion
he agrees not with the passion of Christ/'''^
True to the same doctrine he gives this charge to the
church at Smyrna : — " See that ye follow your bishop as
did Jesus Christ the Father : and the presbytery as the
apostles : and reverence the deacons as the command of God.
Let that Eucharist be looked upon as well established
which is either offered by the bishop, or by him to whom
the bishop gives his consent. Wheresoever the bishop
shall appear, there let the people also be, as where Jesus
Christ is, there is the Catholic church. It is not lawful
without the bishop neither to baptize nor to celebrate the
holy communion : hut whatsoever he shall approve of that
is also pleasing to God.^ It is a good thing to have a due
regard both to God and to the bishop : he that honours the
bishop shall be honoured of God ; but he that performs any
religious act without his knowledge worships the devil."^^^^
Wide as is the sweep of episcopal jurisdiction in these
passages, we find in the epistle to Polycarp, that we still
fall short of its full dimensions : — " It becomes all such
as are married, both men and women, to come together
with the consent of the bishop, so that their marriage
may be according to godliness and not in lust."^^
We will now endeavour to collect from these passages
the exact doctrine of Ignatius regarding ecclesiastical
supremacy. The church on earth is a political incorpora-
tion for the purpose of divine worship ; but in order to
that worship being acceptable to God, it is needful that its
officers be appointed with strict regard to a certain subor-
dination of rank, (that of bishops, presbyters, and deacons,)
and that the whole of the laity be in a state of unlimited
79 C. 4. 80 Ad Smyrn., c. 8. 81 C. 9.
82 Ad Poly., c. 6.
196
subjection to them. This he illustrates by the strings of a
harp, every one of which must be tuned to a nicely
graduated harmony beneath the dominant, or master note,
before the instrument can be made to discourse sweet
music :^ so, an accepted song of praise can never ascend
from the visible church, unless every individual member
thereof be, with equal exactness, harmonized and adjusted
to his proper place in or beneath the Christian hierarchy.
All these adjustments are to be made after one exemplar,
from which no departure is on any account to be allowed.
It follows, that the acceptable worship of the church does
not consist, in the divine mind, of the acts of adoration
of its individual members, to whom God has regard on
account of the purity and sincerity of the motives that
prompt them, but is the result of their harmonized combi-
nation ; analagous to the pleasing effect of musical sounds
so combined on the human ear. And, therefore, no
integrity of intention can prevent the utter rejection of
the prayers of him who, by violating the unity of the
church in any way, shall thereby become a jarring string
in this harmony. For it is just as impossible that the
worship of an individual Christian should of itself be
acceptable to God, as that the twangling of one string of a
harp, which is only a single note in the scale, contributing
83 Whether the combination of musical sounds which is technically
termed by the moderns the common chord, was known to the ancients or
not, my want of acquaintance with the early history of music deprives me
of the means of ascertaining. But it has certainly occurred to me that
Ignatius in this passage hints at a mysterious analogy, or rather sympathy,
between the bishops, priests, and deacons of the church, and the dominant,
mediant, and tonic of the harmonic scale. Without presuming to say any
thing decisive upon the question, I would only further observe, that such
an appeal to the occult sympathies of the universe would have been received
as an unanswerable argument in the second century.
197
to the general effect by sequence or combination with
many others, should produce agreeable music. And as,
when combined to form one instrument, the slightest devi-
ation in any one of the strings from the intervals of the
scale produces dissonance, so is it also with the company
of believers that constitute a church : the very thought of
dissatisfaction, or of ambition towards the power of the
clergy, in any one of the laity, is a violation of its unity ;
and the worship of the offending member is discordant with
the whole, and therefore displeasing and rejected.
The metaphor is a singularly beautiful one ; and is in
itself sufficient to rescue Ignatius from the censures which
have been, in my opinion, somewhat unadvisedly cast upon
his style and talents, in common with the rest of the apos-
tolical fathers, by Dr. Mosheim.^ It is evidently the
offspring of a vigorous, imaginative, and highly cultivated
mind.
It is also very important to observe, that he does not
make use of a single expression regarding submission to
the clergy, which is not strictly consequential upon this
his premise. Grant but this, and who can deny that it is
a condition anterior to every other obligation in the
Christian code ? For what can bp so important as that,
for the absence of which, in the remotest degree, no love of
84 «' The apostolical fathers are neither remarkable for their learning
nor their eloquence : on the contrary, they express the most pious and
admirable sentiments in the plainest and most illiterate style." — Mos. Eccl.
Hist. Cent. /., p. 2, c. 3., § 22. But the passage commented upon in the
text would, in itself, furnish ample proof that Ignatius was a man of high
education. Music, in the ancient scholastic discipline, was the finishing
accomplishment, and taught only to those who had mastered what were
then accounted the lower degrees of learning : but Ignatius was certainly
acquainted with music. We shall have other opportunities of pointing out
the incorrectness of Dr. Mosheim's estimation of these writers.
198
God, no faith in Christ, no personal holiness, can compen-
sate ? since, however eminent the Christian may be in any,
or in all these, unless, by the entire submission of his
inmost soul to the control of the bishop, he be at unity
with the church, his prayer is abomination to God ; his
every act of religious worship is regarded as paid to the
devil ! With perfect truth and sobriety, therefore, does
he call upon the laity to revere the bishop as God the
Father, the presbytery as Jesus Christ, and the deacons as
the Sanhedrim of the apostles, (that is, as the Spirit that
inspired the apostles ;) not to allow themselves for a
moment to imagine that any thing done or ordered by
them can be otherwise than according to the mind of God ;
and, without a metaphor, to bring every thought into
captivity to the obedience of the clergy.
But we naturally enquire whence did Ignatius learn
all this ? We turn to the New Testament, but cannot
discover the doctrine he lays down : not a vestige, not a
shadow of it. To say that it is utterly opposed to the
whole tenor of that Inspired Volume, is by no means the
fact of the case. It has no relation whatever, not even
that of opposition, to any thing that is to be found there.
To attempt, therefore, .to confute it by a series of texts,
would be as judicious as to adopt the same method to dis-
prove the reality of one of jEsop's fables ! We are saved
the trouble of further conjecture ; our author himself
informs us that he received it not from the New Testa-
ment, but hy inspiration^ and from the traditional
teaching of the apostles.^ This account of the matter
proved satisfactory to his successors for many genera-
tions ; and the question between the laity and the clergy,
which so fiercely agitated the church in the times of
85 See above, Chap. IV., p. 25. Mag. c. 3.
199
Clement and Ignatius, seems to have been, by this and
similar avowals of divine authority for the domination of
the latter, entirely set at rest : we hear nothing of it
through the remainder of the century.
TertuUian, as we have seen, pleads a similar tradi-
tional authority for certain ceremonies which were without
sanction from the Scripture. Upon the subject of eccle-
siastical supremacy, the following passage will, I think,
sufficiently evidence that he did not more frequently
enforce it in his writings, only because it was never then
called in question. It occurs in the course of an argument
wherein he very properly refuses to contend with the
heretics out of their own mutilated and corrupted copies of
the scriptural books,^^ and brings them back to the pre-
vious question of their authenticity. He claims the
victory on the ground that the means of authentication,
whatever they were, remained in his time with the apostolic
churches, by the admission of all parties; and that the
copies to which he referred were in agreement with them :
and he sends the whole argument triumphantly home
by an appeal to the tradition of those churches, which
repeated (with minute exactness) the doctrine in these true
copies of the Scriptures. We thankfully receive even now
this most powerful reasoning, as a valuable aid in confir-
86 De Praes. Haer., cc. 32 — 38. The corruption of the Scriptures by
the heretics was attempted even in the time of Ignatius. " I hear some
say, unless I find it to be written in the originals, {Iv vols apx^'ots,) I will
not believe it to be in the gospel ; and when I answer, it is written there,
they deny it." — Ad. PJiil., c. 8. The originals of Ignatius, are evidently
the same as the authentic^ Utterce of TertuUian, in the passage referred to
in the text — U. s., c. 36. (See also above, p. 30., note 11.^ The fact
that the fidelity of transcripts of the canonical books was called in question
at so early a period, while the church was still in possession of that most
unanswerable of all means of authentication, the autograph copies of them,
is a most important one.
200
mation of our faith, and in refutation of infidel objections :
but we much regret, that in contending earnestly for the
faith once delivered to the saints, its author should have
been betrayed by his zeal into such a passage as the follow-
ing : — " By what right, O Marcion, dost thou fell trees in
my wood? By whose permission, O Valentinus, dost
thou divert my water-courses ? Who gave thee the power,
O Apelles, to remove my landmarks ? Why do the rest
of the heretics till and depasture my land at their plea-
sure ? It is my possession : I inherit it of old : I have the
title deeds, drawn by those who first enclosed it. I am
the heir of the apostles. As they appointed in their testar-
ment, as they entrusted, as they required, all these I
fulfil."^'^ We have no difficulty in tracing the unscriptural
arrogance of this passage to the unseemly elevation given
by the apostolical fathers to the Christian ministry, wherein
TertuUian was a presbyter. It is but a transcript of that
which Ignatius so amply and unequivocally declares, and
for which his avowed authority is inspiration and tradition.
Having already dealt with his inspiration,^ we
proceed to another of those thorny questions which beset
our path at almost every step. It may be thus stated :
did there exist, in the early church, certain maxims
regarding clerical orders and authority, and the ceremonial
of divine worship, which, being taught by the inspired
apostles to the primitive bishops, and by them to their
successors, remain with her thenceforward as an ecclesi-
astical tradition ? Bearing in mind the arguments which
appear to refute the notion of traditional doctrines,*^ we
shall find that they apply also with considerable force to
tradition generally, as a vehicle of divinely communicated
87 De Prses. Haer., c. 36. 88 Above, p. 25., e. s.
80 See above, Chap. III.
201
knowledge, independently of the sanction of Scripture.
We imagine that their tendency is to establish a prin-
ciple regarding all Christian tradition, as well as the
disproof of the traditional existence of one class of facts.
We do not perceive that the improbability that our Lord
would have recourse to this mode of conveying divine
truths to successive periods of his church, is at all affected
by the nature of the truths to be handed down. His own
rebuke of oral tradition would apply with equal force
against himself, whether the truths entrusted to that mode
of perpetuation regarded the polity of his church, and the
authority of his ministers, or his own nature and his peo-
ple's duties. — The argument drawn from the fact there is
in the New Testament no allusion to any tradition, except
to that which (as the early fathers inform us^) itself con-
tains, is equally universal in its application, and bears
upon the whole question as strongly as upon any branch
of it. Of the same nature is the admirable argument for
which we are also indebted to the early fathers, from the
accordance between the apostolical tradition and the apos-
tolical writings :^^ nor is it at all weakened in its present
application, by the circumstance, that they themselves
limit it to traditional doctrines, and assert the existence of
traditional ceremonies. To make this apparent, we have
only to debate the point of difference with them prescrip-
tively, as TertuUian phrases it ;^ that is, to apply their
own argument to their own limitation. Early in the second
century, Valentinus, one of the philosophical heretics, suc-
ceeded in imposing upon a multitude of individuals, a
crude mass of mad impieties regarding the divine nature,
which he professed to have received from the oral tradition
90 De Praes. Hser., cc. 25, 20. 9i See above, p. 119, &c.
92 Ubi Supra, c. 35.
aot
of the apostles. — The cotemporary fathers of the church
answer him, that this must be a fabrication, because the
apostolical tradition coincided minutely and in every parti-
cular with the apostolic epistles : — and no such doctrine
was to be found there. About the same period, Ignatius
also states a doctrine regarding clerical supremacy, than
which, nothing can be more utterly at variance with the
spirit, and tenor, and design of the entire New Testament,
and upon the same authority. Now here are two cotempora-
ries, or nearly so,^^ both claiming the sanction of tradition
for doctrines equally opposed to the New Testament.
How, I shall be glad to know, can an exception be taken
in favour of the one, which is not also an important
admission on behalf of the other ? Concede but the apo-
theosis of the bishop to Ignatius, and Sophia Achamoth^
and the Eons of Valentinus will leap through the same
gap. — The whole value of the argument consists in its
integrity. Let it but stand as a fence round our faith,
whole and unbroken, and it is a wall of brass, which no
error, from this quarter, shall ever be able to surmount ;
93 Ignatius wrote A. D. 218. Valentinus first made his appearance at
Rome, at the commencement of the reign of Antoninus Pius, A. D. 237.
Jren.^ lib. 3, c. 4, p. 206.
94 One of the thirty Eons, or concentric circles, which constitute the
divine nature, or pleroma, according to this heretic. Sophia (<ra^/a) is the
Septuagint rendering of the word, which denotes the female impersonation
of Wisdom in the first nine chapters of the Book of Proverbs. Achamoth
(a;^a/A«9^) is the Greek transcription of the same Hebrew word; ninan. A
very able epitome of this wild fantasm occurs in the Bishop of Lincoln's
Tertullian, pp. 510 — 519. There are many very remarkable resemblances
between the system of Valentinus and that of the Jewish Cabbalists. The
notions of the divine nature in concentric circles, of male and female Eons,
and of wisdom slipping out of the pleroma, and gambolling in the nether
world appear to be common to the two. — See Irira^ Porta coelorum in Cab.
Denud., Vol. II.
I
203
but break it down in a single point, and it becomes utterly
worthless. Allow but the authority of one tradition,
plainly new and additional to the doctrine contained in the
Inspired Volume, and all comparisons of other asserted
traditional doctrines therewith is at an end. — It is no
longer the test by which their truth is to be ascertained.
One such admission as effectually disqualifies it as a
hundred.
Neither have we any difficulty in discovering the
reason why Valentinus, and the rest of the heretics, never
availed themselves of this argument against the fathers ;
they were at least as much interested in the doctrines of
Clement and Ignatius, as the latter could possibly be;
and as anxious that the question of ecclesiastical suprem-
acy should remain a dormant one. For nearly all the
heresiarchs were ecclesiastics, disappointed in their hopes
of advancement ;^^ and their errors invariably tended to
the elevation of themselves, as *^ the Paraclete,"" or '' the
great power of God," to the rank of inspired promul-
gators of a new doctrine. No wonder, therefore, that
they never raised the question, when the view of it taken
by the opponents, so powerfully contributed to the sup-
port of their own pretensions.
With the Church of England then, we utterly deny
that " it is in the power of tradition to ordain any thing
against God's word ;^ and therefore we reject the doctrine
of clerical supremacy advanced by the apostolical fathers,
and maintained by the early ones.
The whole question of Tradition being now general-
ized, and one rule being made applicable to every possible
case, it is needless to detail our opinions upon each of
them. We cannot better ej^press the conclusion to which
95 See Tert. adv. Valen., c. 4., &c. ^ Article 34.
204
this enquiry has conducted us, than in the words of the
high authority to which we have just appealed. — " It is
not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all
places one and utterly alike ; for at all times there have
been divers, and may be changed according to the diver-
sities of countries, times, and men's manners, so that
nothing be ordained against God's word."^''
The tendency of the error we are considering, to cor-
rupt the clergy, by assigning to them an improper measure
of authority, and to degrade the laity, by the prescription
of an undue degree of deference, is sufficiently manifest.
The most obvious evil consequence that immediately fol-
lowed upon this state of things, was the deplorable igno-
rance in which the great mass of professing Christians
were sunk by it, rendering them an easy prey to the many
deceivers that arose in those unhappy times. For it is
quite evident that, far from encouraging the mere lay-
man in the pursuit of religious knowledge, the doctrine
in question virtually denounced all such enquiries, as
the most dangerous that could possibly engage the atten-
tion of ordinary Christians, because of their inevitable
tendency to incite men to think for themselves rather than
by proxy ; and, consequently, to weigh and consider the
evidence of all religious tenets, before they received them,
by whomsoever they were presented to their credence. But
should this reflection raise even the shadow of a doubt
regarding the doctrine or practice of the clergy, the un-
happy enquirer would thereby be involved in the sin of
schism, and his eternal salvation placed in the utmost
jeopardy. There is satisfactory evidence of this, in the
abstruse and learned character of nearly all the extant
works of the early fathers ; they are condones ad clerum :
97 Article 36.
205
not intended for the comprehension or edification of
any one, of attainments beneath those of a philosopher :
and in the complete lists of their writings, preserved by
Eusebius, we find that those which are lost, were also of
a precisely similar character. How the mere laity were to
acquire religious knowledge in those times, we are at a
loss to conjecture.
Accordingly we shall find the distinguishing mark of
the church's history at the period now under review to be,
the number and pestilent nature of the heresies that then
made their appearance, and the extraordinary rapidity
with which they diffused themselves. The wretches with
whom they originated seem, with a wanton impudence of
profanity, to have vied with each other in the invention of
rank and rampant blasphemies regarding the divine nature,
or whatever else is accounted most sacred in religion ;— •
but, nevertheless, the success with which they propagated
their fantastical hell-dreams, is absolutely without a paral-
lel. No depth of absurdity, no height of madness, seem
to have been the slightest impediment to their instant and
hearty reception, not only by individual professing Chris-
tians, but by entire churches, yea, by whole nations.—-
The numerous works in which the cotemporary fathers
oppose these errors furnish, of themselves, sufficient proof
of the imminent nature of the danger they apprehended
from them. They knew well that the nascent church had
infinitely more to fear from the falsehood that " ate as doth
a canker''' within, than from the persecution that thundered
without. The one would soon exhaust its impotent rage
upon walls and bulwarks, as impregnable as the word
and truth of God could make them ; but under the bane-
ful influence of the other, the very foundations of the
whole fabric were rapidly crumbling to dust. — It was on
206
this account, that the later fathers of this period ahnost
entirely passed by the controversy of Christianity with
Jews and Heathens, and devoted their whole energies to
the refutation of the heretics : and to their efforts, under
God, perhaps more than to any other external cause what-
ever, are we their successors indebted for the pure and
undefiled record of Christ's religion which has been trans-
mitted to us. — For, never, so far as I understand ecclesi-
astical history, was the very existence of Christianity upon
earth in such instant peril as in the latter half of the
second century. When the educated among the Christians
were mixing up the pure precepts of the Gospel, with the
mock morals and dreamy reveries of Pythagoras and
Plato ; while the giddy multitude rushed by thousands in
mad pursuit of the foul distorted spectres raised by Mar-
cion and Valentinus, which were hurrying them with
frightful velocity into the deepest and darkest abyss of
Heathenism.
Melancholy as is the picture, and strange as it
may seem, that such corruptions should follow so closely
upon the first propagation of Christianity, there is nothing
in all this for which the error we are considering does not
furnish us with an amply sufficient cause. — The laity of
the church were enjoined upon an authority which to them
was as inspiration, — to do nothing without the clergy, to
let nothing in religion seem reasonable to themselves with-
out the concurrence of their pastors, or, in other words,
only to think through the clergy : and the slightest devia-
tion from the most literal strictness of these injunctions,
constituted the damning sin of schism. — The consequence
is obvious ; the conscientious layman would not, dare not,
seek after religious knowledge, lest his researches should,
by any chance, lead him to conclusions not in accordance
207
with those of his ministers. But at the same time, it was
impossible for him to sink into that state of apathy and
indifference regarding religion, which is the consequence
of ignorance in quiet times. — He could not forget that
which every human being around him was incessantly dis-
cussing ; he could not be indifferent to that for which he
might, at any moment, be called upon to suffer martyrdom.
His mental powers, therefore, were constantly directed to
a subject upon which he was very imperfectly informed:
■circumstances of all others the most favourable to the
workings of the imagination. Men would naturally seek
to supply from some source their lack of knowledge upon
a subject so all-important, and so universally interesting :
and, in consequence, the creations of their own fancies
filled the place which the truths of God's word would have
occupied, had those truths been accessible to them. In
these circumstances originated the wild fantastical heresies
of the second century. — The church was possessed with a
taste for the marvellous : and it was to pander to this taste
that the heresiarchs invented their gaudy, glittering false-
hoods, which the ignorance of the generality afforded them
no means of detecting. Another circumstance would pow-
erfully co-operate with this prepossession in favour of the
heretical doctrines. Their first propagators were (as we
have seen) ecclesiastics ; and, consequently, the laity were
prohibited, by the canon of Ignatius, from calling in
question any thing advanced by them in their sacred
character. In readily embracing their doctrines, therefore,
they complied with the dictates of conscience, as well as
inclination.
The argument may be thus summed up. The detes-
table heresies of the second century could never have been
widely diffused among persons professing Christianity,
^08
unless they had been sunk in the grossest ignorance ; but
we have shown that the false doctrine of Ignatius regard-
ing the clergy had a direct tendency to promote ignorance
among the laity ; and therefore, we do not hesitate to
denounce it as one principal cause of their success.
The disastrous consequences of this ignorance may be
easily traced through the successive periods that elapsed,
until the mystic harlot was firmly enthroned upon the
seven hills of imperial Rome ; and to her abandoned im-
pudence it was left to glory in this shame, by declaring ew
cathedra that " ignorance is the mother of devotion."
We cannot but express our astonishment, that one
who had been the hearer of the inspired apostles should
have propounded the doctrine we are considering. That
he should have altogether forgotten that the God with
whom he had to do would not give his glory to another ;
and that when the triple ministerial order was installed in
the throne of the ever-blessed Trinity, his religion became
idolatry. We might have imagined, the holy martyr did
not perceive that the commandment regarding this sin " was
exceeding broad ,•" and that he who paid divine honours to
any being in the universe, save God alone, was guilty of
this most heinous offence, whether the object of his ado-
ration were a graven image or a living man. But this plea
cannot be urged in favour of Ignatius, who, at the very
time he wrote his epistles, was on his way to Rome to
suffer martyrdom for refusing to burn incense to the
emperor Trajan. Yet, that Trajan derived the imperial
power from God, was as clear and unequivocal a doctrine
as any in the New Testament ;^^ and much more of the
appearance of an argument from Scripture might be got
up in justification of the worship of an emperor, than of
^8 Rom. xiii.
209
paying divine honours even to an apostle. Truly it is a
strange picture that we have to contemplate ; — ^ Christian
bishop on his way to martyrdom, for refusing to pay one
single act of outward adoration to an emperor, employs his
last moments in earnestly enjoining upon all the churches
within the sphere of his influence, an infinitely grosser
heart-idolatry of himself, and his brethren in the ministry !
We can only reconcile the anomaly by concluding that
there are other phases of the human mind, besides mad-
ness, wherein the intellectual powers exercise no influence
whatever over the course of action. For we cannot at all
admit of the excuse, that Ignatius had a very fervent
imagination, and that he often employed Oriental imagery.
This is mere drivelling: it is, unhappily, no question
either of taste or fancy. The statement of Ignatius was
received as exact and literal truth by his cotemporaries,
and successors. The single blot in the beautiful epistle of
Polycarp to the Philippians is a command to " obey the
presbyters and deacons as God and Christ,"'''^ and to pre-
cisely the same purpose are the few references made by the
other fathers of the same century to a subject then entirely
at rest. We are not combatting, therefore, a rhetorical
flourish of Ignatius, but the doctrine of the church in the
second century.
The great importance of the subjects we have been
considering, and the subtle nature of the errors we have
endeavoured to expose, will sufficiently justify a brief
synoptical statement of them, in conclusion of this long
chapter.
We have made out the existence of one error with a
two-fold bearing. That error consists in an entire misap-
prehension of the nature and character of Christ's church
99 C. 6.
p
210
on earth, as revealed in the New Testament : the doctrine
of which, upon this point, cannot be better conveyed than
in the inimitable language of the Church of England : —
" The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful
men in which the pure word of God is preached, and the
sacraments be duly administered according to Christ's
ordination,*"^^ and, therefore, the only purpose for which
they are so congregated is, that those ministrations may,
through the Spirit, be attended with the greatest possible
success, in the edification of the saints, and in the conver-
sion of sinners. To this purpose, and to this alone, the
power and authority entrusted with the ministers of the
church were to be entirely subservient. It is not possible
that the doctrine of the New Testament regarding the
church can be more clearly stated, and we can hardly con-
ceive of any thing more entirely at variance with it than the
tradition of the apostolical and early fathers. With them,
the church was an association politically incorporated by the
Almighty, and having offices of dignity of many degrees
in rank. In these offices is vested a very large measure of
the divine power, in virtue of the apostolic succession. The
purpose for which this power was imparted they do not
inform us. From hence the error proceeds in a two-fold
direction. They regarded the church as consisting not
of the people (with the New Testament and the Church
of England) but of the ministers ;^^^ that it, and therefore,
they were the only media of communication between God
and man. In the other direction of the error, they altoge-
ther mistook the Scripture regarding the unity of the
Spirit, which they taught to be, so entire a subjection of
all the mental faculties of the laity to those of the clergy,
that when the latter shall address God in the name of
100 Article 19. ^01 ign. ad TraU. 3. Supra, p. 194.
211
the congregation, they shall speak as with one mind and
one will.
Here the two branches of the error again converge ;
for the duties of the laity, as taught in the second century,
are legitimate conclusions from both. They, as we have
already seen, were not allowed to act either in their reli-
gious or civil duties, without the consent of the clergy ;
they were not even to think without them ; they were to
render them the homage of the heart and spirit, as well as
of the body ; and to have them in reverence, exactly similar
both in kind and degree, to that which they paid to God
himself. The sanctions which enforced these precepts were
tremendous. The slightest mental dissent from any thing
advanced by the clergy implicated the dissentient in the
sin of schism, cut him off from the unity of the church,
and, therefore, shut out all hope for him of acceptably
approaching God ; all other Christian virtues, yea, the
sacrifice of Christ himself, notwithstanding.
The mode in which these opinions would seem to have
co-operated with other causes, in giving success to the rank
heresies of the times, we have considered at length : and by
showing that the homage demanded by the clergy was
clearly idolatrous, we have obviated the necessity of any
scriptural disproof of it.
Nor are we at all at a loss for the origin of the error.
It is merely a Christianized version of the maxims of social
government of every kind, which were then universally
current. The ideas of responsible authority, and of
government for the benefit of the governed, received no
countenance whatever from the practice of those times.
On the other hand, dignitaries of every rank, both civil
and religious, assumed exactly the lofty, God-deputed bear-
ing with which Ignatius carries it, on behalf of the Christian
212
ministry. We must also call to mind here our former
observation, that it was not the divine purpose, in revealing
Christianity, to teach mankind politics ; but to impart a
rule of life that should adapt itself to the political circum-
stances of society, whatever they might be. And nothing
is more certain than that when such harsh and arbitrary
notions prevailed universally, a larger measure of authority
would be required to give full effect to the ministrations
of the clergy, than in times when milder and more rational
theories of government were entertained. We have great
satisfaction in being able thus to mitigate the error of
Ignatius ; whose name, as one of the early martyrs to the
faith, must always be fragrant, and whose writings abound,
nevertheless, in passages of pure piety and exquisite
beauty.
The nature and general bearing of the error upon the
Christian system, is the only point that remains to be
considered. These we shall find to be in melancholy
uniformity with the aberrations from the doctrine of
Scripture which have already engaged our attention. It
interposed another cloud between the heart of the believer,
and that sun of righteousness, whose full splendour it was
the purpose of this perfect revelation to unveil. Like the
other errors of the period, it debased and sensualized
Christianity, rendering it more a concern of time and less
of eternity — ^it cast another defilement on the pure spiri-
tuality of its motives, by infusing into it a gross and earthy
element ; it destroyed the simplicity of its moral code, by
enjoining, as imperative duties, acts which the Bible
denounces as grievous sins : and thus, by introducing
into Chrisf s religion absurd and irrational motives, and
anomalous and incongruous precepts, it marred the har-
mony of the entire system : and reduced that, whose exact
213
arrangements and nice adaptations, otherwise, loudly and
sweetly utter forth the praises of the infinite wisdom
which framed so fair a plan, to a chaotic mass of hopeless
confusion.
It was not possible, but that great and grievous prac-
tical evils should ensue upon a derangement like this.
Besides those immediate effects which we have endea-
voured to trace, it were easy to show the rapid advances of
the clergy in arrogance, intolerance, and secularity, through
this and succeeding centuries ; until " the man of sin, the
son of perdition,'' was unveiled in the fulness of his gigantic
dimensions. But we rather turn to that which, being the
necessary consequence of the error, must always appear
under whatever circumstances it is entertained, and
however carefully it may have been purified from the
idolatrous grossness of Ignatius.
Christianity knows nothing of degrees of requisition ;
she asks the dedication of the whole heart and affections, of
all the faculties and powers, without the slightest reserva-
tion, to her service ; it is impossible to overstate, either the
comprehensiveness or the universality, of her demands.
She can ask no more from the clergy ; she demands not
one whit less of the laity. The one and the other are
equally exhorted " to present their bodies'" (and therefore
all their outward actions) " a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God," and this, and this alone, " is their
reasonable service." Evidently, nothing can be more
abhorrent to the spirit of a religion like this, than the
notion of a vicarious performance of its duties: of the
supererogatory labours of one class in the church, supply-
ing the lack of service of another. Yet, that this is
elementary to the error in question, is equally apparent-
To make this clear, let us contemplate, for a moment, the
214
situation in which a lay Christian of the second century
was placed by it. We have already shown that, according
to the then prevalent theology, the only mode by which
man''s acts of devotion could pass through the invisible
world to the ear of Him to whom they were addressed,
was by the fre^ agency of a universe of angels. We now
find that, even in this world, the layman had access to his
heavenly Father, only through the medium of the bishop
and clergy. Thus separated by a double remove from the
object of his worship, it would infallibly be concluded that
religion was an affair in which the layman had, compara-
tively, but little concern ; and that his safest course
regarding it, was to keep on as good terms as possible with
the clergy below, and with the angels above, and to leave
the rest to be managed between them.
This is, of course, an extreme case, arising out of the
gross character of the unhappy times we are considering.
But is not the same consequence inevitable upon every
shade of the same error, however attenuated ? Is the entire
figment of a church on earth, the only authorised expositor
of the word of God, in virtue of the apostolical succession
of her clergy, (a notion as utterly destitute of Scripture
warrant as the supremacy of the Pope) any thing more
than a dilution of the doctrine of Clement and Ignatius,
from which the deduction of the Romish church, that
therefore the Scripture is to be denied to the laity, has
been somewhat illogically severed ? And is it possible to
escape the inference, that therefore the laity will do well
to leave a very exact and curious attention to religion, to
those whose holy orders confer upon them the advantages
for such pursuits, whatever they may be, which accrue
from the apostolic succession ; and not to busy themselves
with enquiries which they must necessarily pursue under
215
unfavourable circumstances, and with which they have, in
strictness, no right whatever to intermeddle ?
That all this, and worse than this, has been avowed
and defended by Protestant divines, I should find no
difficulty in establishing by a host of authorities : but I
willingly forbear. The subject has been throughout an
invidious and unpalatable one; and at such a moment
as the present, I shall certainly not arm the adversaries of
the Christian church to which I esteem it my privilege to
belong, with a weapon of which they too often take an
improper advantage, by charging upon every individual of
whom that church is composed, the opinions of a few of
her wrong-headed members. Another circumstance also,
happily obviates the necessity of such an exposure. The
avowal of these offensive opinions has been, for some years
past, of very rare occurrence in the writings of the divines
of the Church of England ; and the whole tenor of her
theology, in the present ^ay, affords a blessed and unan-
swerable testimony that, before the bright beams of
Christ's gospel, this error also is fast fading away. And
while I rejoice, in common with all who profess the name
of Christianity, in the larger diffusion of scriptural know-
ledge which has occasioned this, I cannot refrain from
acknowledging that my joy is enhanced by the reflection,
that no Christian community upon earth has laboured more
abundantly in the promotion of this knowledge than the
Church of England.
But we are dwelling upon the tokens for good which,
as our hope and prayer is, are bringing to its catastrophe
the mystery of iniquity which has been so long enacted
upon the earth : whereas we are now considering those
rapidly-growing corruptions that introduced it. We turn
from the blaze of Scripture light which irradiates the
216
nineteenth century, and whose clear shining well nigh
kindles the ardent faith of the believer to the full assurance
of hope, to plunge once more into the thick and palpable
darkness of the second . when the faith, as well as the
patience, of the saints, was subjected to trials more severe
than perhaps at any other period. And we state unreser-
vedly, that an error more deeply fraught with evil conse-
quences, never vexed the church of Christ, than the
apotheosis of the clergy.^^^
102 See Appendix.
CHAPTER Xll.
MARTYRDOM.
The error that arose in the early church, touching the
honour conferred by the crown of martyrdom, has so little
connection with any opinion now received by Protestants,
that it is only enumerated here, for the purpose of further
illustrating the nature of the mistakes with which Chris-
tianity was corrupted by its early professors.
It is not difficult to conceive that the memory of those
who loved not their lives unto the death, " for their Lord
and for the word of his testimony," should be very precious
in the hearts of his surviving disciples on earth. Nor can
such a feeling be too highly commended. But, unhappily,
the utmost latitude of interpretation can never bring the
terms in which the martyrs are invariably spoken of by the
fathers of the second century within any allowable limit.
We have already seen their proneness to assign to ecclesi-
astical ceremonies the efficacy which belongs to the grace
of God alone, and to ecclesiastical persons the honour
which is due to the God of all grace only, and in the
instance now before us we have another melancholy illus-
tration of it.
The Shepherd of Hermas speaks thus of the martyrs :
— " Whosoever have suffered for the name of the Lord are
esteemed honourable by the Lord, and all their offences
218
are blotted out, because they have suffered death for the
name of the Son of God.'''^
Irenaeus tells us that " the martyrs despised death,
and bore their testimony, not through the infirmity of the
flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit."^ An
expression whereby he seems to indicate that the Spirit was
with the martyrs, not in his ordinary sanctifying influences,
but miraculously. And the expressions of TertuUian
render it pretty certain that such was the universally
received opinion at the time. He addresses certain martyrs
in prison thus : — '' In the first place, beloved, grieve not
the Holy Spirit that hath gone with you to prison ; for if
he had not gone with you, ye would not now have been
there. Give, therefore, all diligence, that he may remain
with you there, and that he may lead you thence unto the
Lord."3
The martyrs were to be the judges of their persecutors
in the future state. Irenaeus commits those who despise,
as well as those who persecute them, to the martyrs them-
selves :* and TertuUian, in the most eloquent address we
have quoted, tells the prisoners to whom he writes : — " the
world expects its judge, but ye are to judge your judges."" ^
The intercession of a martyr was always attended to
by the church on behalf of the backsliding penitent : ^ — a
beautiful and affecting custom, conceived in the true spirit
of Christianity, and to which neither TertuUian, nor any
1 Sim. 9, 28.
2 Adv. Haer. 6, 9.
3 Ad Martyres, c. 1. The occasion of which he addressed them was,
that disputes and dissensions had arisen among themselves ; a circumstance
by no means without a parallel, however extraordinary it may seem.
4 Lib. 3, 20., p. 247.
5 U. s., c. 2.
6 Id., c. 1.
219
one else in their senses, could discover the slightest objec-
tion ; though afterwards, when he had fallen into the dotage
of Montanism, he attacked it in a furious rant of coarse
unfeeling sarcasm.^
If the confessor escaped with his life, the prerogative
of martyrdom gave him an undisputed claim to the highest
ecclesiastical dignities.^ If he underwent the last and
most perfect test of the sincerity of his profession, the
spiritual privileges that awaited him were such as to render
martyrdom, to a mind of any enthusiasm, a consummation
earnestly to be sought after. This is the second laver,
the baptism of blood, whereby the blessed receiver is
glorified, as by water baptism he has been purified ; this
is the perfection of all the blessings which Christianity
can bestow upon man : and to which there is no other
mode whatever of attaining.^ For while the souls of ordi-
nary Christians remain for a very long period in a state of
incomplete happiness, the spirit of the martyr rushes
exulting from his mangled corpse into the heaven of
heavens, and plunges into the ocean of perfect bliss that
flows round the throne of the Most Highest. ^^
When doctrines like these were publicly professed and
7 De Pudic, c. 22.
8 Martyrii praerogativa — Adv. Valent. c. 4.
9 Clement of Alexandria was of a different opinion. " If martyrdom
be to confess God, whoever orders his life virtuously, through the know-
ledge of God, and obeys his commands, is a martyr in life and conversation,
by whatever means he comes by his death ; for he pours forth his faith like
blood throughout his whole life, and even at his death." — 4 Strom. § 4. But
this writer certainly entertained notions regarding martyrdom, which he had
borrowed from the philosophical heretics, rather than from the orthodox ;
though in the same chapter, he indignantly repudiates the notion which
some of them held, that this perfection was the only martyrdom.-— <S(?&
above, p. 1G3, Nole 32.
^^ TertuUian dc Baptismo, c. 16.
220
firmly believed, what wonder that Ignatius should write to
the church at Rome, expressly forbidding them, either by
prayer to God, or intercession with the imperial authorities,
from hindering him of the crown of martyrdom ? — " Now
that the altar is already prepared," he exclaims, " ye
cannot do me a greater kindness than to suffer me to be
sacrificed unto God." It is good for me to set from the
world unto God, that I may rise again unto him. I
beseech you that ye show not an unseasonable good will
towards me. Suffer me to be food to the wild beasts, by
whom I shall attain unto God : for I am the wheat of God,
and shall be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I
may be found the pure bread of Christ. Encourage, then,
the beasts, that they may become my sepulchre ; pray unto
Christ for me, that by these instruments, I may be made
the sacrifice of God."^^ As if for the purpose of showing
that he was no empty boaster, dealing merely in general
declamation, he does not scruple to detail and dwell upon
all the horrible particulars of the fate that awaited him.
*' May I enjoy the beasts that are prepared for me ; which
also I wish, may exercise all their fierceness upon me, and
whom, for that end, I will encourage, that they may be
sure to devour me. Yea, if they will not do it willingly,
I will provoke them to it. Welcome fire and the cross ;
welcome the rage of the wild beasts ; welcome breaking of
bone, and rending of flesh, and tearing off of members ;
let the shattering in pieces of the whole body, and all the
wicked torments of the Devil, come upon me, only let me
enjoy Jesus Christ.*"^^
He knows but little of human nature, who is not well
aware of the highly contagious character of enthusiasm
like this : or who is at all surprised to be informed that,
11 Ign. ad Rom., c. 2. 12 id., c. 3. 13 Id., c. 3.
221
with the rewards we have described set before her, and
with an advocate and example so eloquent and influential
as Ignatius, a bright hot fire of false zeal was kindled in
the Christian church, wherein the love of life and the fear
of death were alike entirely consumed. She clapped her
hands for joy at the sound of persecution. Her members
rushed in crowds to the judgment-seats of their tormentors,
each vieing with the other in the boldest profession of
Christianity, and the most contemptuous defiance of their
malice. The more merciful of the Roman governors were
openly insulted, spit upon, and even struck in open court,
by frantic zealots who called themselves Christians, in their
eagerness for the crown of martyrdom. The idea of flight
in persecution was disdainfully scoffed at. Our Saviour's
express injunction to this effect was limited merely to the
apostles.^"* Persecution, on the other hand, they declared
to be an express appointment of God ; and as God could
appoint nothing but what was good, to fly from it was to
decline that which is good.^^ It was the divinely instituted
means for separating the wheat of confession from the chaff
of denial ; he, therefore, that fled from it, counteracted,
as much as in him lay, the purpose of infinite wisdom.^^
Besides, flight was altogether in vain ; instances were
adduced of persons who had attempted to evade persecu-
tion, and upon whom the vengeance of heaven had brought
ten-fold tortures from the persecutors, before they were
committed to the flames of martyrdom.^^ " How," it was
triumphantly asked, '' could the blessings promised to
those that confessed Christ before men, that endured per-
secution for his name's sake, that continued unto the end,
be obtained, if it were lawful to fly from persecution."^^
14 Matt. X. 23. TertuUian de Fuga in Persecutione, c. 6.
15 Id., cc. 1, 3. 16 Id., c. l. 17 Id., c. 5. 18 Id., c. 7.
222
The idea of purchasing the privilege of professing
Christianity with money, was even still more contemptu-
ously rejected. " God pronounced a blessing upon the
poor," say their admirable logicians, " how then can a man
be blessed by his riches ? We cannot serve God and Mam-
mon ; how then can we be redeemed by God and Mammon ?
Or who serves Mammon more than he whom Mammon
redeems ? We who are bought with blood, pay neither
blood-money nor head-money ; for Christ is our head.
Wilt thou redeem that with thy money which Christ
redeemed with his blood .?"^^
Now we greatly admire the ingenuity of all this ; we
produce it as a very talented specimen of the arguments of
a school of reasoners, who, by the help of a few flimsy
fallacies for which they quote Scripture, and of strong
fierce appeals to the conscience, founded upon these falla-
cies, can make the Bible say any thing : and, we regret
to add, (for the school still flourishes) often with astonish-
ing success. But, nevertheless, we entirely deny that the
word of God sanctions or enjoins the sin of murder under
any circumstances. Nay, it appears to us, that he who
promotes his own murder, either by daring a tribunal, or
by wilfully neglecting any lawful means whereby it might
be prevented, is guilty of a crime of a much deeper dye
than that of his murderer : the one is the sinner, but the
other is the tempter. But our author quotes the case of
St. Paul, who refused to stay from Jerusalem where
Agabus^*^ prophesied that bonds and imprisonment awaited
him, and this he trumpets forth as a triumphant and final
settlement of the question in his own favour.^^ What
wretched paltering is this ! Could a case of more perfect
disproof have been possibly selected ? For in the first
18 C. 12. 20 Acts xxi. 10—14. 21 De Fuga, c. 6., a. f.
223
place, the apostle was inspired as well as Agabus ; and the
same Spirit that revealed the fact to the one, revealed also
his course of conduct to the other. When this argument
suits his purpose, no one is more sensible of the force of it,
or uses it more dexterously than Tertullian. But in the
next place, the predicted imprisonment did not terminate
in martyrdom, but in the apostle's liberation ; this was
also foreshown,^^ and this is surely not unimportant to the
tendency of his example. But lastly, though the apostle
refused to release himself by the illegal act of bribing the
Roman governor, yet he pleaded with the utmost fervour
for his life ; and on all occasions, exhibited the greatest
solicitude for its preservation from the many perils that
surrounded him. And yet this fierc^ fanatic can pass by
all such considerations, and ground upon the mere act of
his going to Jerusalem a vehement exhortation to his
fellow Christians, first to provoke the unsheathing of the
sword of persecution, and then to precipitate themselves
upon its point !
Upon this particular question, however, the views of
Tertullian, though very prevalent in the second century,
were not universal. The school of Alexandria promulgated
opinions more consonant with Scripture and reason ; for
which, as we have before observed, they drew upon them-
selves from their meek opponents the epithet of " sensual-
ists.''^^ They do not at all scruple to affirm that God is not
the author of persecution, nor of any other evil.^^ They
also, and with justice, extend the command^^ to the whole of
Chrisfs disciples. " We are to flee from persecution," say
they, " not because we fear death, or because it is an evil
to undergo persecution, but because God will not have us
22 See Acts xxi. 13. 23 See above, p. 151, Note 10.
24 4 Strom., § 12. 25 Matt. x. 23.
224
to be the authors or abettors of evil, either in ourselves, or
our persecutors. He who disobeys this, throws himself
rashly and unadvisedly into danger. Whoso slays a righ-
teous man commits murder ; and he who offers himself to
the persecutors participates in the guilt of his own murder.
He who refuses or neglects to avoid persecution, does what
in him lies to abet the guilt of his persecutors ; but he who
provokes his tormentors is as much the cause of his own
death as he who throws himself in the way of a wild beast.
It would be just as proper to term one who suffers for a
theft a martyr as such a person ; both are alike the authors
of their own execution."^'' This is manly, scriptural, and
rational. We may safely leave TertuUian to Clement of
Alexandria ; and should any one in his ignorance presume
that the patristical writings contain nothing worthy of
notice, we conceive we have only to point him out such a
passage as this, and he has his answer in full.
We regret, however, that it is only upon this point
that we can commend the doctrine of Clement regarding
martyrdom. Like the rest of his cotemporaries, he held
martyrdom to be the entire purification from all past sins,
and the infallible induction of the happy subject of it into
the fulness of heavenly felicity. Nay, he goes even
beyond this ; " our Lord drank the cup of martyrdom only
for those unbelievers that plotted against him. The apos-
tles suffered for the churches they had founded : and it
behoves the true and wise martyr to imitate their blame-
lessness of life, in order that his martyrdom may also be
efficacious.'*''^ I do not carry this out to all the conse-
quences of which it is capable ; because it is plain, from
the rest of his writings, that he had no intention either of
^ 4 Strom., § 10.; see also § 4, of the same book, a. f.
27 4 Strom., § 9.
225
undervaluing, or limiting, the atonement of our Saviour :
— but, nevertheless, he certainly did hold, with the uni-
versal church in the second century, that martyrdom was
in some way efficacious as an expiatory act. He agrees,
likewise, with the preceding writers in accounting it a
necessary part of the Christian economy, its crown and
perfection : this, he tells us, arises from the martyr's
assimilation to the divine impatibility : and he enforces
the Pythagorean figment, of striving after the indifference
of God to earthly pains and pleasures, as the best prepa-
rative for it.^^
Yet the New Testament only teaches, that he " who
endureth persecution" is " blessed," as well as he whose
life exemplifies the other Christian graces ;^ and that he
" who abideth to the end shall be saved. ""^ And far
from any thing meritorious in the act of martyrdom, we
are expressly told concerning it that, " he who giveth
his body to be burned, and hath not charity, it profiteth
him nothing."^^
We could not have selected a question, which more
forcibly displays the total neglect of the spirit of the New
Testament that prevailed in the early church, than the
opinions of the fathers of the two first centuries upon the
subject of martyrdom.
28 See § 19, 21. This last opinion seems to have been peculiar to
himself.
29 Matt. V. 10—12, &c.
30 Id. xxiv. 13.
31 1 Cor. xiii. 3.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SUPREMACY OF ROME.
The error we are now about to consider, like that of the
preceding chapter, does not fall within the scope of our
original design ; inasmuch as it is expressly repudiated by
all the Protestant churches, and by many of the ancient
ones. The history of its origin and progress, however,
are not without instruction upon a point, on which the eye
of the visible church is intensely fixed at the present
moment ; and it therefore seemed desirable, to conclude
our analysis of the ecclesiastical opinions of the second
century with a brief account of them.
The Supremacy of the See of Rome, is a doctrine
which, pretending to no scriptural sanction, and resting
solely on the unwritten tradition, we shall not waste a
word upon its confutation, but at once proceed with its
history.
The circumstance that Clement of Rome addressed to
the Corinthian church, the epistle to which we have so
frequently referred, has been eagerly seized upon by the
Romanists as an early avowal of the supremacy of the
former see ; and the writer has, in consequence, been
honoured with the style and title of Pope St, Clement:
though nothing can be more humble, or less popish than
the tone and temper of the entire production, whatever
227
may be said of the purport of it. He enforces no authority
but that of argument and persuasion : and though he
writes, not in his own name, but in that of the church at
Rome, yet internal evidence is not wanting, that the
Corinthian clergy had appealed to him rather than to any
other bishop, merely because he had formerly been a pastor
of the church at Corinth, and was, therefore, familiar with
the circumstances in which the schism originated.^ And,
far from the assumption of any authority as bishop of
Rome, that city is never once mentioned, except in the
superscription. These considerations lead me to conclude,
that the dogma of Rome's supremacy receives no counte-
nance whatever from the epistle of Clement : a conclu-
sion, be it remembered, altogether unimportant to my
view of the question, having already admitted that other
false doctrines had an equally early origin.
The superscription of Ignatius's epistle to the Romans
addresses, " the church which presides in the region of
Rome, worthy of God, most becoming, worthy to be most
blessed, worthy to be praised, most worthy to have her
prayers answered, most pure, presiding in love, named
after Christ and the Father." This is certainly a mode of
speaking which strongly favours the doctrine in question :
if, indeed, the whole of the epithets have not been art-
fully interpolated at a later period ; which I cannot help
suspecting.
Shortly afterwards, also, Irenaeus declares it in
terms which cannot be mistaken, in the passage we have
already referred to, regarding the apostolic tradition : —
" Since it would be tedious, in a volume like this, to
enumerate the successions of all the churches, we the
rather insist upon that of the very great, and most ancient,
1 Clem, ad Cor., c. I.
228
and universally celebrated church, which was founded and
constituted at Rome by the two most glorious apostles Peter
and Paul.*"^ He proceeds to inform us that it was needful
for the churches every where^ to resort to Rome, because
that city was the seat of government ;* and, therefore, they
had made her the depository of their apostolical tradition.
The reason here given for the supremacy in question is a
very probable one. The circumstance that Rome was, at
that time, the metropolis of the world in every sense of the
word, would have an inevitable tendency to confer a
corresponding metropolitan dignity upon the church esta-
blished there.
TertuUian thus enumerates the apostolical churches,
to which he exhorts the heretics to repair, in order that
they might there hear for themselves the tradition of the
apostles, and compare it with their inspired epistles. " Is
Achaia near thee ? thou hast Corinth. Art thou not far
from Macedonia ? there is Philippi. Wilt thou go into
Asia? there thou wilt find Ephesus. If thou livest
adjacent to Italy, thou hast the Roman church ; whence
the authority (of the apostolic tradition) is immediately
derived to us, (at Carthage.) Blessed church, to whom
the apostles poured forth their whole doctrine, along with
their blood ; where Peter's passion was likened to that of
the Lord, (crucifixion) where St. Paul was crowned with
John Baptist's martyrdom, (decollation,) whence St. John,
after he had been plunged into boiling oil and suffered
2 Adv. Haer., lib. 3. c. 3. I strongly suspect that here also, the
epithets have been inserted by the Romanists.
3 Undique.
4 " Propter potentiorem principalitatem." The allusion is, doubtless,
to the many appeals which the Christians had to prefer to the emperors
against the governors of provinces, as Grabe unanswerably demonstrates in
his note on the place— £(^t^. Oxon.^ p. 201.
nothing, was banished to Patmos. Let us see there, what
these holy men said and taught."^
It appears to me, that these passages betray consider-
able anxiety, on the part of their authors, to give to the
Roman see the full benefit of the advantages which her
situation in the metropolis of the world conferred upon her.
Else, why does Irenaeus heap laudatory epithets upon the
church at Rome, because of a privilege which she only
enjoyed in common with so many others of the apostolic
churches ? Or why does Tertullian enumerate privileges
peculiar to that church, the value of which it is not very
easy to estimate ? That St. Peter and St. Paul were
martyred at Rome, and that St. John was there exposed to
a cruel torture, from which he was miraculously delivered,
are somewhat singular reasons why the supremacy should
be conferred upon that see ! Our Saviour was of a very
different opinion regarding Jerusalem.
We find from other passages of the same authors, that
the early church had a more cogent reason than any that
are expressed in our citations, for upholding the supremacy
of Rome. The well-known prophecy of St. Paul regard-
ing the man of sin,^ was always interpreted by her of
antichrist ; whom she supposed to be a man who was to
possess himself of the dominion of the world, and, by
means of unheard-of cruelties towards the Christians, to
succeed in re-establishing the Roman idolatry, and the
worship of himself as its supreme god.^ His destruction,
which would speedily follow, was to usher in the consum-
mation of all things,^ and the end of the world. In the
course of the prophecy, St. Paul thus addresses the Thes-
salonians : — " Remember ye not that when I was yet with
•' De. Pracs. Haer., c. .36. 6 2 Thess. ii. 1—12.
' See Irenaeus., lib. 5. c. 25. « Idem, c. 26.
230
you, I told you these things. And now ye know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work ; only there is that
which withholdeth until it be taken out of the way ; and
then shall that man of sin be revealed,"" &c.^ It was the
uniform belief of the early fathers, that this hindering, or
restraining, power was the Roman empire : that its dis-
memberment into ten kingdoms, and the revelation of the
man of sin were to be cotemporary events. ^^ The following
passage from the apology of TertuUian affords us an
insight into the practical effect of this belief; it occurs in
the course of an endeavour to show that the Christians
were not rebellious subjects. After citing the passages
from the New Testament, which enjoin that prayer should
be offered for kings, he proceeds : — " but there is another
and greater necessity laid upon us that we should pray for
the emperors, as well as for the whole empire, and for
Roman affairs in general, who know that a very great
destroying power now imminent over the whole world, and
threatening dreadful afflictions, yea, the end of all things,
is retarded by the continuance of the Roman empire.
Therefore, we would not experience these things ourselves ;
and while we pray that they may be deferred, we ask for
the long duration of Rome."^^
I feel persuaded, that here we have the true reason
why the early church manifested such extraordinary
anxiety to foster the popular prepossession in favour of the
political supremacy of Rome, by elevating the church in
9 2 Thess. ii. 5—8.
10 " Qui nunc tenet teneat, donee de medio fiat. Quis ? nisi Romanus
status, cujus abscessio in decern reges dispersa antichristum superducet." —
TertuUian de Res. Carnis., c. 24. See adv. Marc, lib. 5. c. 16. See also
Irenaeus, ubi supra.
n Apol., c. 31.
231
that city to a corresponding ecclesiastical dominion. She
wished to retard the coming judgment : a motive perfectly
scriptural and proper : but instead of searching diligently
in her own bosom for that '' mystery of iniquity" which
the prophet had informed her " did already work," even
in his time, she addressed her whole energies to the prop-
ping up and continuance of that impediment, concerning
which it was the declared purpose of the divine mind that
it should be removed. She was plainly forewarned by the
terms of the prediction that the danger was from within,
and not from without ; but far from profitting either by
this, or by the examples which Scripture afforded her, of
timely repentance delaying the progress of threatened
judgments, she madly strove to counteract the decrees of
Omnipotence. ' Woe unto him that striveth with his
Maker !' — By these her efforts she accomplished the very
consummation which she had hoped to defeat : she herself
conceived, and gave birth to, that * man of sin,' who even
to this day, ' as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God.' "^2
12 Ver. 4.
CHAPTER XIV.
MODES OF INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE ADOPTED BY THE
EARLY CHURCH.
We have now completed our survey of those dogmas
maintained by the early Christians, which affect the disci-
pline and ministrations of the church. Those that remain
to be considered are points of doctrine, professedly
derived from Scripture: it becomes, therefore, important
that we should, in the first place, endeavour to acquaint
ourselves with the mode in which they interpreted the text
of the sacred volume : as upon this, of course, the value
of their opinions will altogether depend.
It is quite needful to premise here, that they ulti-
mately appeal, upon all occasions, to the inspired writings,
as their only authority for the doctrines they teach. Even
Clement of Alexandria only claims the sanction of tradition
for certain mystical interpretations and accommodations of
the text, never for any doctrines independent of it. The
Protestant may triumphantly point to the fathers of the
first and second centuries as his precedent and exemplar in
the pursuit of a similar course. It is to be regretted that
they did not thus defer to the sense, as well as to the letter
of Scripture.
We set out with only one principle: regard being
had to the scope and drift of the passage that contains it.
233
the meaning of an inspired sentence is that which a similar
collocation of the same words will convey, under any
circumstances, to the greatest number of sentient and
rational beings. If this be not true, that is, if the inspired
writings do not mean what they say, an infinite series of
revelations will be required, each in explanation of the
preceding one. Of this plain and obvious principle the
writers we are considering appear to have altogether lost
sight. Nothing can exceed the licentiousness of the canon
of interpretation adopted by all of them. The sense and
meaning of Scripture are, in their works, engaged in an
interminable game at hide and seek with each other ; so
that, upon their showing, it is morally impossible to decide,
either what they do mean, or what they do not mean.
If the tradition of the fathers, as scriptural inter-
preters, is to be received, we must certainly concede to the
Roman Catholics that the Bible is the most difficult book
in the world, and of all others, the most dangerous to be
entrusted with the laity.
This part of the subject has been necessarily antici-
pated in a measure, by the course of our enquiry. But,
nevertheless, our view of the writings of the early fathers
would be a very defective one, if it did not include as well,
a special notice upon so important and prominent a feature
in them. We shall, therefore, endeavour to make such a
selection from the numerous passages that present them-
selves, as shall put the reader fully in possession of the
subject, and at the same time, do as little violence as may
be to that feeling of reverential regard for the words of
Holy Writ, the wide diffusion of which is the glory of our
age and country.
The early fathers often enforce and illustrate scrip-
tural doctrines by metaphors, or phrases, not employed in
234
Scripture, and apt to convey notions and impressions
regarding them, devoid of scriptural authority , and there-
fore false.
We have already noticed and observed upon more
than one instance of this somewhat subtle mode of false
interpretation ; the following partake of the same cha-
racter.
Clement of Rome thus illustrates the resurrection * —
" Let us consider that wonderful sign of the resurrection
which is seen in the eastern countries ; that is so say, in
Arabia. There is a certain bird called a Phoenix ; of this
there is never but one at a time; and that lives five
hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution
draws near that it must die, it makes itself a nest of
frankincense and myrrh, and other spices ; into which,
when its time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But its flesh
putrefying, breeds a certain worm, which being nourished
with the juice of the dead bird, brings forth feathers : and
when it is grown strong, it takes up the nest in which the
bones of its progenitor lie, and carries it to Egypt, to a
city called Heliopolis : and flying in open day, in the
sight of all men lays it upon the altar of the sun, and so
returns from whence it came. The priests then search into
the records of the time, and find that it returned precisely
at the end of five hundred years.*" ^
Now here is a most absurd fable, invented by the
idolatrous priests of Egypt to countenance their system of
fraud and imposture, and having, therefore, an obvious
bias in favour of heathenism. Yet a Christian writer
does not at all scruple to make the pretended occurrence of
this false fact, a sign of the fulfilment of one of the most
important and momentous truths of his religion. Was he
1 C. 25.
235
not afraid, we naturally ask, lest the sign and the thing
signified should share the same fate in the estimation of his
readers ? and that the failure of the one would necessarily
produce in their minds disbelief in the other. The excuse
that has been so often urged in behalf of Clement, that he
only believed this fable in common with Tacitus, Pliny,
&c., is not an available one. These authors were hea-
thens, and, therefore, willingly listened to a story which
told so decidedly for the religion they professed : but this
very circumstance ought to have raised a suspicion in
the mind of Clement. For the appearance of the Phcenix
was never regarded by any one as a mere fact in natural
history, but as a miracle.^ . And to what agency, but
that of evil spirits, could Clement ascribe such a control
over the volitions of a bird, as should constrain it to
bring incense to the altar of an idolatrous temple, to be
there consumed in honour of the idol ? Besides, the
heathen writers themselves speak of the circumstance with
considerable doubt and hesitation;^ and ought not Cle-
ment to have been equally careful, that the fact which he
propounded to a Christian church as a sign of the resur-
rection, was a true one ? Notwithstanding, then, the very
high authority which I know to be against me, I hesitate
not to assert that there is no defence for a Christian
minister, who, misled by a foolish vanity of displaying
his learning, and of improving upon St. Paul, (and I
perceive both in the passage before us,) hesitates not to
suspend the faith of his readers in one of the most awful
verities of Christianity, upon their credulity of one of
2 " Post longum saeculorum ambitum, avis Phcenix in iEgyptum venit,
praebuitque materiem doctissimis, multa super eo miracuio disserendi.*'—
Tacitus Annal.^ lib. 6. c. 28.
3 " Hsec iiicerta et fabulo^is aucta."— raciVws. u, s.
the lying wonders of heathenism ."* But I may be asked,
did any evil effects follow upon it ? I answer that they
did. The orthodoxy and the heresy of the succeeding
century differed from each other in this only, that while
the one was Christianity more or less leavened with the
dogmas of the heathen philosophy, the other consisted of
the same Christianity in all possible stages of admixture
with the fables of the heathen mythology ; from the
paganising errors of Marcion and Hermogenes, down to
the heathen Gnostics, who worshipped the idols of Egypt
and of Greece with prayers and incantations taken from
the Bible. And did not the occurrence of such a passage,
in an author so highly esteemed as St. Clement, furnish
both with something like a precedent ?
Ignatius writes thus to the Ephesians : — " Ye are the
stones of the Father's temple, ready to be built in by God
the Father ; being drawn up on high by the engine^ of
Jesus Christ, that is the cross : the Holy Ghost being the
rope, your faith being your sling,^ and love being the
groove^ which guides, or conducts, you up to God." Here
4 There is one defence of this passage which it requires a considerable
exercise of forbearance seriously to answer. The Christian fathers, of a later
period, frequently make the same use of the phoenix. So they do ; but it is
only upon the authority, and often in the very words, of the passage before
us. It, therefore, only proves that Clement originated the practice in the
Christian church of holding up an idolatrous fable as a sign of the resur-
rection ;- which is not a defence, but an aggravation. See Tertullian de
Res. Car.y e. 13. ; consult also the references to the other fathers given by
Junius. — Notes in Clem., p. 34.
C avayuyivi. " Quod alligatur alicui rei quasi ad earn sustollendam."
— Eustathius.
7 olos. Either the groove or fixed pulley in which the rope ran ; or
more probably the well in the scaffolding, through which the suspended
stones passed in their progress upwards.
237
he changes the metaphor :^ — " All ye, therefore, fall into
your places in that procession,^ as God-bearers, and Christ-
bearers, and shrine-bearers, and bearers of purity/^ being
altogether adorned with the commands of Christ as with
festal garments."^^ (c. 9.) This most extraordinary passage
commences with an amplification upon St. Peter's meta-
8 The very abrupt transition here was probably suggested to the writer
by the stupendous machinery employed in ancient architecture, by the
agency of which, many blocks of stone were probably drawn up to the
builders at the same time. Ammianus Marcellinus describes the engines
used in the erection of an obelisk at Rome, in a passage which is not with-
out interest as an illustration of the place before us. — Rerum Gestarum,
lib. 17> c 4. He wrote at a period when great architectural undertakings
were of rare occurrence there ; and consequently, the forest of poles and
beams which he describes, high tisque periculum, crossed in all direc-
tions by cables of enormous length and thickness, while many thousand
men worked at the winches, were a sight seldom to be witnessed, and
therefore exciting the more attention.
9 Wi Sv xett ffuvohoi <ra.vTis. The word, trvvotos, synod, is used for the
great assembly of all the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, in the propylon
or outer court of an ancient temple, which took place on the occasion of a
grand procession of the idols. They met there for the purpose of assuming
the symbols, or sacred implements, which they were privileged to bear, and
of taking their places in the procession.
^0 B'io<popoi xa) vao^opoi ^piTO(popoi, kyto^opoi. These are titles of honour,
descriptive of the sacred symbols which those upon whom they were con-
ferred bore in the procession, and by which their places in it were regulated.
They were objects of ambition with persons in the most exalted stations,
among the ancients. We learn from the Greek inscriptions and papyri,
recently recovered in Egypt, that under the Ptolemaic dynasty, members of
the royal family, and even the Ptolemies themselves, gloried in the titles of
&B-ko<popoty crown-bearers, )cavv<popoty basket-bearers, &c., in the religious pro-
cessions of the Egyptian deities.
11 xecja. Trdvrtx, xixo(rfji,Yifji.ivou The word is used generally for ornamental
dress. He alludes to the splendid costumes of those who took part in these
processions. By the phrase xofla, •xa.vru. he intimates, that the festival to
which he invites them is one of peculiar solemnity, in which none of the
ornaments and insignia they were entitled to wear must be omitted ; or, as
we should phrase it in English, a full dress occasion.
238
plior,*^ in the technical language of ancient masonry. The
doctrine it conveys is perfectly scriptural, and it is by
no means destitute of ingenuity, though the writer has
certainly not succeeded in improving upon the inspired
apostle. But it was the latter part that gave occasion for
its introduction in this place, as another glaring instance
of the impropriety we have just remarked upon. He
abruptly changes the figure, and describes the Christian
walk and conversation in terms and expressions altogether
peculiar to the marshalling of those solemn processions of
the idols, which formed so conspicuous a part of the ritual
of worship in the ancient heathen temples. I willingly
admit that the metaphor is, throughout, finely conceived,
and clothed in vigorous and glowing language. But its
introduction into an address to Christians but recently
converted from heathenism, and still surrounded by it,
in the plenitude of its gorgeous attractions, appears to me
as strange a violation of all the ordinary maxims of
prudence and propriety, as I remember to have met with.
The reader need scarcely be informed that about a century
afterwards, Christianity walked in procession as well as
heathenism. And so deeply was the ceremonial of the one
indebted to that of the other, that when, after upwards of
a thousand years of separation, the two met once more in
India, through the medium of the Roman Catholic
missionaries, they instantly recognised each other as near
relations. And matters have since then been so dexter-
ously managed, by means of a few further concessions on
the part of the Catholics, that in an Indian city now, it
requires a practised eye to distinguish between a procession
of Christian idols, and a procession of heathen ones.
The same father uses the following expression, in his
12 1 Pet. ii. 6.
239
epistle to the Magnesians : — '* There is one God who has
manifested himself by Jesus Christ his son; who is his
Eternal Word, not coming forth from silencer^'^ Here
is an equivocation upon two of the meanings of the Greek
word Xoyog. We merely remark upon it, that when the
second person of the Trinity is spoken of as the Logos, or
Word, the allusion is to the sense of reason, the action of
the mental powers, not to the other sense of which the
same word is capable, speaking, as opposed to silence.
He cautions the Trallians against the errors of the
Phantastics, (who denied our Lord's humanity, and taught
that the crucifixion was an optical illusion) in these terms :
— " Flee these evil boughs which bear deadly fruit, of
which if any taste he shall presently die. These are not
of the Father''s planting. If they were, they would have
shown themselves to be branches of the cross,^"^ and their
fruit would be immortal."^^ This passage equivocates
upon the double meaning of the word ^JAov, which we
have stated to signify both " the cross" and " a tree" in
the Greek Biblc^^
The evil effects of this mode of writing (which the
epistle of Barnabas seems to have originated) are perfectly
apparent in the fathers of the second century. A system-
atic mode of interpretation was established, called by
13 "Os tfiv avrS koyog eii^ios vx a<ra ffiyni ^poiXB-eov. C. 8. Here is an
evident allusion to the error which was afterwards maintained by Valen-
tinus : he taught that silence (2/yjj) the second Eon in the Pleroma, was
the mother of the Logos — Irenceus, lib. 1. cc. 1, 5. This heretic, it appears
from hence, did not invent his system, but adopted it.
There are, besides, other allusions to silence in the epistles of Ignatius,
which I do not very well understand.— /irf Ephes. cc, 6, 15, 9. ad Rom. 3.
^^ xXahot tS fuvpS.
15 C. 11.
16 Supra, p. 79, Note 36.
240
them, that of the Amphibolia or double meaning, which
they justified in theory, and applied in practice. Upon
this we shall presently enter more at large.
With respect to the subject now before us, the fore-
going examples will suffice to establish the existence of such
a method of comment. The instances might have been
greatly multiplied from the fathers of the second century :
but with these, unscriptural metaphors rather assume the
character of offences against good taste, than of sources of
erroneous doctrine ; because their writings exercised a
more limited influence over their successors, than was
conferred upon those of the apostolical men, by the cir-
cumstances under which they were written.
The early fathers frequently profess to find the
truths of Christianity in passages, where obviously no
such meaning was intended.
Of this nature is the place in St. Clement's epistle,^^ in
which he attempts to show that Rahab the harlot believed
in the doctrine of the atonement, because she hung a scarlet
thread out of the window of her house as a sign to the
Israelites :'^ a notion which is copied by Justin Martyr^^
and Irenaeus ;^^ the latter author improves upon it, and
discovers in the three spies, the three Persons of the
Trinity !
Some of the scriptural quotations in this epistle, which
we have before noticed, p. 184, &c., are also liable to
censure on the same ground. I am very doubtful either
that Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel went about in sheep-skins
and goat-skins, as Clement informs us they did, or that we
can learn from thence the lesson of humility which he
wishes to inculcate. I feel still more hesitation in accept-
17 C. 12. 18 Josh. ii. 19 Dial. cum. Tryph., .338 D.
20 Lib. 4. c. 37.
241
ing the humbling expressions regarding themselves, made
use of by Abraham and Job, when in the immediate
presence of God, as proofs of the humility of those per-
sonages ; and when I am informed that Moses pleaded
with God his own want of eloquence, in the exercise of the
same virtue, I can only reply that Clement must have been
mistaken ; because this plea is spoken of in Holy Writ as
an act of sinful diffidence in the divine power ; and that
which Clement commends, God reproves. But I really
lack patience to listen to the praises of David's humility
in penning the fifty-first Psalm ! Is then the confession
of guilt of a criminal openly convicted of adultery and
murder, to be held up as a bright example of one of the
Christian graces ? This most excellent gift would rather
have manifested itself (in my apprehension of it) in such
a deep mistrust of his own heart, and such earnest and
persevering prayer for help against sin in the time of
temptation, as should have procured him deliverance from
the guilt thereof. I readily grant that it is a beautiful
expression of the " true godly sorrow that worketh repent-
ance unto salvation," and that humility is one ingredient
of that sorrow : but it is by no means a peculiar one,
inasmuch as humility is implied in all expressions of
contrition for guilt, even when they are only prompted
by " the sorrow of the world that worketh death !"
Clement thus introduces the Psalm : — " What shall we
say of David, so highly testified of in the Holy Scrip-
ture, to whom God said, I have found a man after my
own heart, with my holy oil have I anointed him .?"^^
But it was not David''s holiness, but David's sin that
prompted the Psalm in question. And, therefore, I com-
plain that it is a glaring violation of decency and propriety,
21 Ubi Supra.
B
242
to hold up the confession of an offender, in the grossest
sins by which he could have transgressed against God
and man, as an illustration of the humility of the New
Testament.
Let it not be imagined, for a moment, that there is
any thing severe and hypercritical in these remarks : and
that in making them, we demand of these primitive writers
more than their limited acquirements enabled them to
furnish. It should be borne in mind, that the times in
which they flourished can be called primitive, only in
relation to their proximity to the period of the first propa-
gation of Christianity ; and that the effort to connect sim-
plicity with this primitivity, which has been made by some
Protestant, and many Roman Catholic writers, partakes
largely of the nature of cant. Both the literature and the
manners of the first and second centuries were remarkable
for any thing rather than simplicity : and the epistles both
of Clement and Ignatius bear palpable marks of being the
productions of such a period. I know of no writer who
goes further out of the way for the purpose of displaying
his learning, both sacred and secular, than Clement : nor
would it be easy to find a more extensive dealer in well-
weighed words and measured phrases than Ignatius.^^ As
to their style, upon which we have already quoted the
criticism of Mosheim,^^ it is plain and unadorned, but not
more so than that of the cotemporary classical writers
generally. Improprieties may certainly be detected in
22 I imagine that the striking passages which abound throughout the
epistles of this writer, were, in reality, those which he had been for years
in the habit of using in his public addresses, and which he took this mode
of bequeathing to the church universal : — his stock pieces^ if I may be
allowed the expression. There are many similar examples both in ancient
and modern oratory.
2'< Page 197, Note 84.
243
both ; but the Latinisms of Clement and the Orientalisms
of Ignatius are nothing more than might have been ex-
pected of persons writing in a foreign language, and more
intent upon the thoughts they were expressing than upon
the words in which they clothed them. The same remarks
will apply to the epistle of Barnabas, and to the visions of
Hermas : though they (and especially the latter) are the
productions of very inferior minds. It would be a strange
mistake to talk of the simplicity of Hermas : his concep-
tions, on the other hand, are clumsily elaborate ; there
is, throughout his books, abundant evidence of a dull
imagination and feeble intellect, but none whatever of
simplicity .^"^
We conclude that the apostolical fathers have not the
excuse of simplicity and want of learning, for the vague
and equivocal mode of comment of which their writings
afford so many instances, in addition to those we have
extracted.
Let us now endeavour to trace the effect of this their
example upon the fathers of the succeeding period.
Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
seems to have entirely neutralized the effect of his many
pertinent and admirable quotations of Scripture upon his
antagonist, by the introduction of such places as Isa. Ivii. 1.,
which he declares to be, a prophecy concerning the death
of Christ ;^^ a sense of which it is plainly incapable. In the
same passage, he quotes six Psalms entire, all of which
24 It is not improbable that the apostolical fathers have acquired the
reputation of simplicity from a peculiarity in their writings, which seems
to have escaped notice. They studiously copy the style of the canonical
epistles. They affect the tone of inspiration. This circumstance certainly
gives a simple air and character to their writings, which will not be found
to stand the test of a closer examination.
25 Opera, p. 234 C.
244
he applies to the exaltation of our Saviour ;^ though four
of them only will so admit of such an interpretation as to
render them available in an argument with a Jew. He
proceeds to assert that Elijah's complaint to God^ was a
prophecy regarding the unbelieving Jews in his (Justin's)
time, and that the divine reply^^ was also prophetic of the
few that embraced Christianity.^ We are not much sur-
prised at Trypho's answer to all this : " Thou ravest at a
strange rate ; I would have thee to know that I think thee
mad."^ Undaunted by this rebuke, Justin overwhelms
the astonished Jew with another deluge of misinterpre-
tations. He tells the unbeliever, that his own paschal
lamb, roasted whole, with the hind legs tied to the spit,
and the forelegs stretched out, is a type of the cross ;
that the oblation of fine flour for the leper, shadowed
forth the Christian eucharist;^^ and that the high-priest,
with twelve bells at the hem of his garment,^^ was a
symbol of Jesus Christ and his twelve apostles. It was
inevitable, that the mind of a prejudiced person should
dwell upon absurdities like these, to the entire oblivion
of the many powerful scriptural reasons with which his
antagonist intermixed them. When I state that this is
little more than an average specimen of his general mode
26 Psa. ex., Psa. Ixxii., Psa. xxiv., Psa. xlvii., Psa. xcix., Psa. xlv. He
caUs the 47th Psalm the 46th, the 99th the 98th, and the 4oth the 44th.
These numbers are still retained in the Septuagint enumeration of the
Psalter.
27 1 Kings xix. 14.
28 Id., xix. 18.
29 257 D., &c.
30 258 B.
31 269 B., &c.
32 260 D. Trypho would probably hear, for the first time, of the exact
number of bells on the high-priest's garments ; there is no direction upon
that point in the Pentateuch.— Exod. xxviii. 33., xxxix. 25., &c.
245
of interpretation, and that there are not many passages of
equal length throughout the dialogue, which contain a
smaller number of such perversions, I need scarcely add,
that the conference between Justin and Trypho ended
in the interchange of polite expressions ; and that the
former was not successful in convincing the latter of his
errors.^
Irenaeus, though in my judgment, superior to Justin
both in talent and learning, was equally misled in his rule
of interpretation, by the example of the apostolical fathers.
The following instances will sufficiently show that his
comments upon Scripture are often vague and unsatis-
factory. He wishes to prove that the second person of the
Trinity administered the Mosaic dispensation. " In that
33 371 B. C. There are one or two points regarding this dialogue, upon
which considerable difference of opinion exists. It is doubted by many
that such a conference took place at all ; while among those that maintain
its reality, an equally difficult question arises as to the city in which it
occurred : the latter does not deserve discussion : as to the other point,
without presuming in any way to decide upon it, I think the suggestion of
the Bishop of Lincoln is fully borne out by the evidence contained in the
work itself. A discussion certainly took place between Justin and a Jew
named Trypho somewhere : but the " dialogue" is by no means an exact
account of it : that was committed to writing, probably long afterwards, by
the former, at the suggestion of a friend ; and is an attempt to embody the
whole question between Judaism and Christianity. The bishop has pointed
out the very suspicious circumstance of the close resemblance between the
commencement of it, and those of the philosophical dialogues of Plato and
Cicero ; and there is a similar resemblance between his account of his own
conversion to Christianity by a mysterious old man, whom he met on the
sea-shore, after he had tried all the various sects of philosophy in vain,
(220 A., &c.), and the passage in the introduction to the Stromates of
Clement, of which we have already given some account, (See above, p. 21,
note 8.) The suspicion is certainly raised, that these are merely the ficti-
tious embellishments of which the teachers of new philosophical doctrines
so frequently availed themselves ; and as they then deceived no one, the use
of them scarcely amounted to the sin of falsehood.
246
''34
our Lord says, * Henceforth, I call you not servants
he plainly indicates that he himself bound men to the
servitude of the law, as well as delivered them unto the
liberty of the gospel."^ The text contains no allusion to
the doctrine in question ; our Saviour is speaking upon a
subject altogether distinct from it. He is comforting his
disciples in the prospect of his immediate departure, by
informing them that, after that event, they will stand in a
closer and more endeared relation to him. During his
sojourn upon earth, he constantly called them his ser-
vants ;^ but he tells them that " henceforth," that is, after
his death and resurrection, " I call you not servants but
friends." We, therefore, complain, that though the doc-
trine of Irenaeus is perfectly true, his quotation affords no
proof of it.
He thus confutes the assertion that there were cer-
tain traditional sayings of Christ which contradicted the
gospels. " Our Lord Jesus Christ is truth,^^ and there
is no lie in him. David prophecied of him who was bom
of a virgin, and who is the resurrection of the dead, when
he said,^ ' Truth hath sprung out of the earthy^
This has, at first sight, the air of a somewhat ingeni-
ous and pretty comment ; but it is equally objectionable
with the former. If we admit that the interpretation is
correct, it is an instance of the bad practice which greatly
prevailed with the early fathers, of resorting for their
scripture authorities to obscure passages, in preference to
plain ones. But the place in question does not admit of
the meaning which Irenseus assigns to it. The expression
quoted neither alludes to the human nature of Christ, nor
34 John XV. 14. 36 Adv. Hfier., lib. 4. c. 27-
36 See Matt. x. 24, 25. ; John xii. 26., &c. 37 John xiv. 6.
38 Psa. Ixxxv. 12. 30 Adv. H«r., lib. 3. c. 5.
247
to his resurrection from the dead, nor to any quality
whatever inherent in the person of our Saviour : but, as
the context shows, is a prophetic description of the happy
effects of his sacrifice and death ; whereby the mercy and
the truth, the righteousness and the benevolence of God
towards fallen man are once more harmonized, so that he
can " be just, and yet justify the believer." Here also,
then, our author fails in producing satisfactory Scripture
authority for his doctrine ; even when that doctrine is one
so easy of proof, as our Lord''s veracity.
The impropriety and absurdity of the following, need
no exposure. He interprets Matt. xxiv. 28., " Where the
carcass is, there will the eagles (aquilce) be gathered
together,"" of the multitude of believers coming to Christ ;
and supposes it to be a parallel prophecy to Isa. xliii. 6.,
" I will say to the North (Aquiloni) give up :" alluding,
as it appears to me, to the resemblance between the two
Latin words in the version he made use of.^
" Hosea the prophet took a wife of fornication ;^^ pro-
phecying thereby that ' the Land,' that is, the inhabitants
thereof, ' had departed by fornication from the Lord.' But
of such persons it pleased God to take himself a church, to
be sanctified by communication with his Son ; even as was
the sinful woman by communication with the prophet :
and, therefore, St. Paul says,"^^ ' The unbelieving wife is
sanctified by the believing husband.' ""^^
" Moses married an Ethiopic woman, whom he made
40 Lib. 4. c. 28., p. 316. The Greek of this portion of Irenaeus is not
extant ; but the allusion is very apparent in the Latin version, and I see no
reason to doubt that the translator found it in the original.
41 Hos. i. 2, 3., &c.
42 1 Cor. vii. 14.
43 Lib. 4. c. 37.
248
an Israelite,'*^ to show that ' the wild olive would be
grafted into the olive tree, and partake of its fatness.'"^
For since he who was born Christ was enquired after by
his own people, that they might slay him, and was saved
in Egypt, that is, among the Gentiles ; and there he
sanctified the infants, whereof he afterwards composed his
church, (for Egypt was Gentile from the beginning, like
the Ethiopic woman) so by the marriage of Moses, the
nuptials of Christ are shown forth : and the Gentile church
is typified by the Ethiopic bride. It was on this account
that they who derided and slandered her'*^ were struck with
leprosy and cast forth of the camp."'"'^^
Similar instances of misapplication abound throughout
the works of this father.
The same remark is also true of Tertullian ; of whose
mode of interpretation several examples are already before
the reader. In order to show that the error of quoting
texts of Scripture in proof of doctrines to which they
make no allusion, prevailed universally in the second
century, we give a few additional instances from his tract
against the Jews : a point of controversy depending
altogether upon the mode of interpreting the Old Testa-
ment, and, therefore, necessarily giving occasion for the
appearance of this error. He informs us at the outsef^^
that God hath called the Gentiles in these latter days, lest
the Jews should be too much lifted upon by the expression
in Isaiah, '' Behold the Gentiles are accounted as a drop of
a bucket, and as the dust of the threshing-floor."^-' And
in the same passage, in expounding the account of the
birth of Jacob and Esau, with a particular reference to the
44 Exod. ii. 21. 45 Rom. xi. 17.
4<' Num. xii. 47 Ubi supra. 4H Adv. Judaeos., c. 1.
49 Isa. xl. 15.
249
expression " the elder shall serve the yo Linger /'^^ he inter-
prets Jacob, the progenitor of the Jews, as a type of the
Gentiles, and Esau, the father of a Gentile nation, as the
representative of the Jews ! Shortly afterwards (cc. 2, 5.)
he finds the same truth prefigured in the rejected sacrifice
of Cain and the accepted one of Abel ; (Cain was of course
the Jews, and Abel the Gentiles :) and mars an admirable
train of reasoning, showing that a divine law existed pre-
vious to the Mosaic one, by endeavouring to demonstrate
that the inhibition on our first parents in Paradise from
the fruit of the tree of knowledge, includes in itself the
whole Decalogue ! He often refers to those interpretations
in the course of his book, and even expounds other places
by them. As for instance, after having interpreted the
desolations described in the first chapter of Isaiah, of the
dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, he thus comments
upon the passage at the commencement of the following
chapter : — " ' Come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.' The prophet
here predicts that a new law would come forth, not from
Esau, the elder people, (that is, the Jews,) but from
Jacob, the younger people, that is, from us, the Gentiles,
whose mountain is Christ; the stone of whom Daniel
prophesied,^^ that it should become a great mountain, and
fill the whole earth."^^
The commentator here has not touched upon a single
point on which he is not mistaken. The introduction to
Isaiah's prophesies is a description of the Jews and Judea
at the time they were written ; and so many allusions in it
limit the predictive parts to periods immediately suc-
ceeding, that with no shadow of propriety can it be
interpreted of any other. The promise also, with which it
50 Gen. XXV. 23. 5i Dan. ii. 35., &c. 52 c. 3.
250
is concluded, predicts blessings to the same land which the
prophet had just described as desolate ; the Mount Zion
being put, by a well-known figure, for the whole land of
Judea : the gross impropriety, therefore, of pointing to
another mountain, and of interpreting that of the rejection
of the Jews which was intended for their consolation, is
sufficiently obvious. Moreover, while we admit that the
comparison of this place with the prophecy of Daniel holds
good in some particulars, we altogether deny that the
mountain he speaks of is Christ. The figure of the
mountain filling the whole earth is certainly taken from the
temple worship on Mount Zion : and signifies the establish-
ment of a ritual of true worship, in which the inhabitants
of the whole earth should participate, even as all the
dwellers in the Holy Land worshipped at Mount Zion.
It typifies, therefore, the Christian church, as distinguished
from the Jewish temple ; not the person of Christ. The
whole of the works of this father evidence that he was well
able to have detected the true meaning of these passages,
and to have estimated the importance of adhering to it.
But so loose and vague were the notions of scriptural
interpretation that prevailed in his day, that probably he
would have been justified before his cotemporaries had
he stated the true reason for his false gloss : namely, that
it rounded his period better, and was a somewhat harder
hit at the Jews.
From the works of Clement of Alexandria the diffi-
culty of selection becomes ten-fold, inasmuch as he scarcely
quotes a text of Scripture upon which he does not give an
objectionable comment.
The ground-work of one of his longest tractates is as
silly a notion as ever entered into the heart of man. He
calls it the Paedagogue, and gives you Scripture for
251
including the whole of the Christian life under figures
taken from the internal regimen of a school. We have the
plan of the establishment : it is an academy for an unlimited
number of young ladies and gentlemen.^^ The moral,
intellectual, and disciplinary qualifications of the Paeda-
gogue himself are next described.^ We have also an
account of the lessons he teaches,^^ and amongst other
particulars, of his modes and implements of punishment, all
of which are in exact conformity with ordinary usage, and
all of course proved by passages of Scripture.^ One of
his punishments deserves to be noticed, as perhaps some-
what inconsistent with the character of mildness with which
he elsewhere^-^ invests him : — " As the shipman guides his
unmanageable vessel through the storm by holding the
helm : — so our good paedagogue lays hold on the rudder of
his unruly boys, that is their ears,^^ and never quits them
until he has steered them safely into the harbour of sub-
mission."^^ Well may the reader turn with a scornful
smile from the perusal of such a tissue of blattering idiocy,
or doting anility. But his contempt will rise to indigna-
tion, when he is informed that the being thus degraded and
vilified, is no other than the divine nature of our Lord, the
second person of the Trinity ; and that, therefore, it is the
blasphemy, as well as the folly, of such writing, which we
are called upon to reprove.
A very imperfect idea, however, is conveyed even by
53 Paedag., lib. 1. c. 4.
54 Idem, cc. 2, 3, 7, 8, 10.
55C. 11.
56 C. 9. I decline giving the texts thus desecrated.
57 C. 3.
58 I need not say that he alludes to preaching.
59 C. 7« This is the most assinine metaphor I ever happened to fall
in with.
this, of the depths of folly to which our philosopher
descends in search of gnostical wisdom.
The following is distressingly foolish. He is endea-
vouring to extend the term childhood, as used in Scrip-
ture, to persons of adult years also. '* I discover," says he,
" a spiritual childhood (TraiS/a) even in Isaac. For Isaac
signifies laughter ; ' and the curious king saw him sporting
(TTdl^ctiv) with his wife Rebecca.''* The king's name was
Abimelek, which appears to me to denote the supermun-
dane wisdom,^^ looking into the hidden mystery of this
childhood. Rebecca means patience. O ! what a wise
sport was this ! Laughter is at play with patience, and
the king looks on from the window." He soon discovers
in Abimelek a type of Christ : and then proceeds thus : —
" But what was the window through which the Lord
showed himself.? Doubtless it was the flesh wherein he
was manifested.*"^^ Bad as all this is, let it not for a
moment be imagined that " the force of nonsense can no
further go." What follows is, in my judgment, infinitely
worse. It is an avowed comparison between two passages.
The one is, "I have fed you with milk and not with
meat ;"^ the other, " I will bring you into a good land
flowing with milk and honey ."^ He tells us at the outset,
that he is met with a formidable difficulty : if perfection
consists in abstinence from meats,^ whence is it that St.
Paul takes a directly opposite view of the subject, and
terms those who eat meat, spiritual, and men, and those
who abstain from it, and restrict themselves to milk only,
carnal and babes ? The mode in which he gets over this,
is very ingenious. He calls in to his aid two other
60 Gen. xxvi. 8. 61 ffepd rts «va/ vTipxia-fAids.
62 Paed., lib. 1. c. 5. '» 1 Cor. iii. 2. 64 Exod. iii. 8.
^'^ Sec above, Page 163, Note 32.
253
passages : — " My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed f '^ and the expression of St. Peter, <' the
milk of the word.""^ He discovers that the apostle does
not say I have suckled you, but I have fed you with
milk, I have given you milk to drink (sTroTKrot,) and
that this, and the Greek word translated " drink," in
the other place (ttoV*?) are both from the same root.
Here he begins a physiological dissertation upon the
several properties of milk, blood, and flesh : the first,
he informs us, is blood spiritualized by contact with air
in the arteries ; flesh, on the other hand, is blood solidi-
fied.^ After running off into a digression upon concep-
tion, &c., which is utterly unquoteable, he returns to the
question, for the purpose of identifying the expressions,
" blood of Christ," and " milk of the word ;" both, he
tells us, are descriptive of the same substance, the milk
that flows from the person of Christ. Then he bursts
forth into a rapturous address to Christ the mother of the
church, suckling his spiritual children, and discharging
towards them, at once, the functions of father, mother,
schoolmaster, and nurse ! Now, the only remaining diffi-
culty is with the " meat,'' of which St. Paul speaks.
This he disposes of at first, by identifying it with the
*' honey" in the other passage ; but he soon strikes out a
more satisfactory solution. '' Meat," or flesh, we have
seen, is blood solidified ; the apostle, therefore, spoke not
of the prohibited meats, but of milk solidified, that is,
cheese.^^ I am not called upon to insult the reader's under-
66 John vi. 55.
67 1 Pet. ii. 2.
68 These were the opinions received by the physicians of the day ; for
these, therefore, our author is not accountable.
69 r6f>os. Paed., lib. 1. c. 6.
254
standing, and degrade my own, by a formal exposure of
such aberrations as these. Their unutterable absurdity is
surely sufficiently apparent ! I have only one remark to
make upon the latter of them. In extracting this passage,
1 have taken the main shoot of his reasoning, lopping off
the digressions which it throws out in every direction, all
of which are to the full as objectionable as the comment ;
so that my extract conveys far too favourable an impression
of the qualifications of Clement as a commentator.
Many other modes of false interpretation were in use
among the early fathers. But those that will now require
consideration must be classed under that particular system
of comment which is termed by themselves a/jt^f i/3oXja, or
equivocation.''^ The fundamental principle of this system
may be thus stated. The Septuagint being an inspired
version,^^ any word in the Greek Bible may be interpreted
with any meaning of which it is capable in the whole com-
pass of that langaage, without regard to the obvious sense
of the sentence in which it occurs. As a direct proof that
the principle is here correctly stated, I give two comments
from Clement of Alexandria. The one is upon Psa. xlviii.
9, 10., LXX. : — " He shall live for ever ; he shall not see
corruption, for he seeth that the wise men (a-o^ovs) die.""
This he declares to be a prophecy of the destruction of the
sect of the Sophists, to whose mode of philosophising he
had a rooted antipathy .''^ The other is from Eccles. v. 2. :
— " Let thy words be few ;"7^ which he supposes to be a
caution against giving too much attention to verbs /s^jxara.''*
This new sense being once struck out, the same word
may be so interpreted wherever it occurs in either Testa-
ment, without the slightest regard to the context ; and by
70 Clem. Alex., 1 Strom, § 9. 71 See above, p. 32.
72 1 Strom., § 10. 73 ^;, iroXvs iv pvfiKen y'lvv. 74 Ubi supra.
255
the collation of a number of such passages, the commentator
supposed that he arrived at the second, or hidden, meaning
of which the Word is capable, in addition to the primary
one which appears on the surface, and which is plain and
obvious to any understanding. Thus, they held the Bible
to be an occultation,''^ as well as a revelation ; it was
not given merely for the insipid purpose of teaching a few
truths, of easy comprehension, to simple and unlearned
persons ; but also for one much more congenial to the
pride of philosophy. Besides these ordinary senses, the
words of Holy Writ contained also the mysterious and
recondite truths of a sublimer system, wrapt up in them,
as in dark sayings and enigmas : and the same text of
Scripture, which only confirmed the faith, assured the
hope, and kindled the love, of the common Christian, the
professor of philosophical Christianism cast into the alem-
bick of his philology, subjected to many a strange and
uncouth process, resolved into its primary elements, and
at length pointed out, with an air of triumph, amid the
dense fumes which enveloped it, the subtle drop of true
gnostical wisdom that his art had elicited, often too subtle
for perceptions less practised than his own.
^p We will endeavour to trace the error along one or two
of its principal ramifications.
This system of interpreting afforded the facility,
which was so eagerly taken advantage of at a very early
period, of inoculating Christianity with heathen philosophy.
The philosophical enquirer had only to assign to such
words as vovs, svvoiot, yvwa-i^ in the Sacred Writings, the senses
in which they were accepted by the sect to which he
belonged, and to accommodate the context, which, in a
language so copious in meanings as the Greek, was seldom
75 See 5 Strom., § 5.
attended with much difficulty ; and then the Bible taught
the Platonic, or Aristotelean doctrines, according to the
prepossession of the commentator.
We, for the present, pass by this part of the subject ;
and proceed to another branch of the error which is more
pertinent to the matter in hand : the process by which the
early fathers extracted these hidden meanings from the
text of Scripture, by the aid of the ajU,(^</3oA»a.
We have already mentioned the epistle of Barnabas,
as the probable means of introducing this mode of comment
into Christianity. This production has received less atten-
tion than the other writings of the apostolical fathers,
because its authenticity is now generally doubted. The
internal proofs of it are, notwithstanding, to the full as
strong in this as in any of them. It was written very
shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus,'^ and
is principally directed against the errors of the Judaising
Christians, which that event would have a natural tendency
to diffuse and aggravate. Its tone and temper is, I think,
more becoming a hearer of the apostles, than any thing
that is ascribed to the apostolical fathers, except the epistle
of Polycarp. It is conceived in a meek and gentle spirit ;
in which the writings of Clement and Ignatius are very
defective. Nor are the passages which evince the writer''s
experimental acquaintance with the peculiar doctrines of
Christianity inferior, in point of piety, to those which have
been collected from the cotemporary fathers, as we shall
presently have the opportunity of showing.
As the objections to its authenticity principally hinge
upon certain strange and absurd comments that occur in
it, concerning which they assume the impossibility, that
one so highly privileged and gifted as Barnabas, should
76 Cc. 4, 16., Ed. Ox.
257
have been their author, I, in the first place, refer to the
unanswerable demonstration of Archbishop Wake,^^ that
such a mode of comment was in use among the cotemporary
Jews. It may then subserve a double purpose, if I so
arrange the instances of the afji^i^oKla which I propose to
lay before the reader, as to demonstrate that the very
passages in this epistle on which the objection is founded,
K are proved to be authentic by the circumstance, that they
are quoted by an unbroken series of writers, down to the
commencement of the third century ; when they are
expressly ascribed to St. Barnabas by Clemens Alexan-
Pdrinus.^^
We have before stated that with this father originated
the amphibological meanings of the word JuAov (Cross,
tree, wood) : and we have just seen that Ignatius has also
copied him.
We will now give instances of the same interpretation
from the fathers of the second century. Justin Martyr
thus addresses Trypho the Jew : — " The tree (JuAov) of
the cross, after he had been crucified upon it, of whose
glorious advent the prophets foretold, became a symbol
of the tree (^uXov) of life, which is planted in the paradise
of God. Moses by a rod Qx^hg shoot of a tree) accom-
^B 77 Ubi supra. Prelim. Disser. pp. 81 — 86.
^" 78 TertuUian also mentions St. Barnabas as the author of an epistle ;
but the quotation he ascribes to him occurs in St. Paul's to the Hebrews.
.As there is, however, no other evidence to connect it with Barnabas, and as
its author is satisfactorily demonstrated to have been St. Paul, it seems
probable that this fiery and impetuous writer has confounded St. Paul's
Epistle to the Hebrews, or Jewish converts, with that of St. Barnabas to the
Judaising Christians, — a mistake which this similarity would easily occa-
sion. The probability is heightened by the circumstance that the quotation
occurs in the tractate de Pudicitia, which is one of his most frenzied pro-
ductions, written under the influence of a fierce exacerbation of the madness
of Montanism.
258
plished the deliverance of the children of Israel ; with that
rod he divided the Red Sea, and caused the water to flow
from the rock. Casting a tree (^uXov) into the bitter waters
of Mara, he made them sweet J^ Jacob made his uncle's
sheep conceive by casting rods (pa/SSo*) into the water.^^
The same Jacob boasts that with his rod he passed the
river. ^^ He also anointed the stone in Luz with oil, to
signify that Christ was anointed a king. The rod of
Aaron, that budded, proclaimed Christ to be a priest :^
for he was the rod that was to spring out of the stem of
Jesse, as Esaias says :^ and David speaks of him ' as the
tree fJXov planted by the rivers of water, which beareth its
fruit in its season.'^ God appeared to Abraham from the
tree (fyX«); as it is written, « from the oak in Mamre.'^'^
The children of Israel, in passing through the wilderness,
found seventy-two palm trees and twelve wells.^ David
said that he was comforted by the rod and staff of God.^
Elisha cast wood (JuXov) into the river Jordan, and raised
the head of the axe, wherewith the children of the prophets
were about to fell trees (SvXa) to build a house, that they
might therein meditate on the law of God ;^^ and we also,
sinking and being submersed in the waters of baptism,
through the weight of our most heavy transgressions, are
delivered by one Christ crucified upon the tree^ (SvXa) who
purifies us by water, and makes us a house of prayer and
worship.""^ It is impossible to withhold our admiration, at
the familiarity of acquaintance with the sacred text which
79 Exod. XV. 26. 80 Gen. xxx. 37, 38.
81 Idem xxxii. 10.
82 See above, p. 166. 83 Chap. xi. 1.
8^ Psa. i. 3. Barnabas makes the same comment on this passage, c. 1 1 .
85 ^pos r^ iput rri Ma/te/S^jf. Gen. xviii. 1. LXX.
8G Exod. XV. 27. 87 Psa. xxiii. 4. 88 2 Kings vi. 6.
89 Justini Opera, p. 312 D. et seq.
259
this passage displays,^ however deeply we may regret the
use to which the writer applies it.
That the obstinacy of the Jew was proof against such
an appeal, will be matter of no surprise to us : but it was
very differently estimated by his cotemporaries. Irenaeus
has deemed it worthy of introduction into an argument to
prove, against the Marcionites, that the Creator of the
world sent Jesus Christ. As he has made many variations
and additions, we will also give his version of it : — " Christ
destroyed the hand-writing that was against us and nailed
it to his cross, that as by a tree we became debtors to God,
by a tree also, our debt might be cancelled. This is
plainly shown in many parts of Scripture, and especially
by Elisha the prophet. When the prophets who were
with him were felling wood to build a tabernacle, and the
head of their awe fell into the river, and they could not
find it, Elisha came to the place. And when he learnt
what had happened, he threw a stick into the water, and
the iron swam, and they took it from the surface. The
prophet showed, by this miracle, that the word of God was
sure : and that what we had lost by the tree of knowledge,
nor could find, we should recover by the dispensation of
the tree of the cross. For the word of God is like a
hatchet. John Baptist says of it, ' and now the axe is
laid to the root of the tree :' and Jeremiah in like manner,
>' the word of God is as a hatchet that cutteth a rock.'^^
This, even the dispensation of the cross, hath manifested
Hp to us that which before was hidden : since, as we have
already said, we lost by the tree that which by the tree is
90 It must, of course, be borne in mind, that the apparatus of indexes,
concordances, lexicons, &c., which afford such incalculable advantages to
the biblical student now, had no existence in Justin's time.
9^ u( rt\v% Ko-rjuv -rirpxv. Jer. xxiii. 29. LXX.
I
260
again manifested unto all, showing in itself, (that is, the
cross,) height, and length, and breadth. By the extension
of its arms (the transverse beam) gathering two people
(Jews and Gentiles) to one God. Two arms, because it
gathers in two dispersed people from the ends of the earth ;
one summit, because unto one God."''^^ It may be observed,
that the same gloss is applied to very different purposes by
these divines ; according to the interpretation of the one,
Elisha's miracle was a type of baptism ; but if we are to
defer to the authority of the other, it was symbolical of the
fall of man by the tree of knowledge, and of his recovery
by the tree of the cross. The incoherence and perplexity
of metaphor, which either meaning introduces, are suffi-
ciently apparent.
We proceed to show, that not only was St. Barnabas''s
gloss current with the early church, but that his interpre-
tations were also received with the same deference. He
thus treats the preceding subject, that of the cross : —
" The Lord determines concerning the cross by Moses,
(when Israel was fighting with, and beaten by, Amelek :)
yea, the Holy Spirit put it into the heart of Moses to
represent both the sign of the cross, and of him that was
to suffer ; that so they might know that if they did not
believe in him they should be overcome for ever. Moses,
therefore, piled up armour upon armour, in the middle of
a rising ground, and standing up high above all of them,
stretched forth his arms, and so Israel conquered. But
no sooner did he let down his hands, but they were again
slain. And why so ? to the end they might know, that
except they trust in him they cannot be saved.*"^^ It is not
92 Iren., lib. 5. c. 17- There is an allusion to the crucifixion in the
latter part of the passage which I preferred omitting.
93 C. 12. However strongly I may object to the entire system of
261
surprising that the early fathers should have been greatly
captivated with this comment, and adopted it, with the
addition of the many embellishments of which it is
evidently capable. Justin Martyr gives the following
version of it : — " When the Jews had waged war against
Amalek and the son of Nun, whose name was I»j(r«V?
(Jesus)^^ fought in the fore-front, Moses himself prayed
to God with his arms stretched forth, and Hor and Aaron
held them up the whole day, lest he should let them fall
when he was weary. For when he at all relaxed from the
perfect figure of the cross, Amalek prevailed, but so long-
as the figure remained perfect, Amalek was conquered.
Plainly indicating that the battle was won through the
cross. For it was not because Moses prayed that Israel
conquered ; but because (the name of Jesus being at the
fore-front of the battle) he exhibited the sign of the
CTossr^
TertuUian also agrees with Justin. " Why did Moses,
when Jesus fought against Amelek, only pray, standing
upright, and with his hands stretched forth, when he
ought rather, under such urgent circumstances, to have
commended his prayers by genuflexion, with his hands
smiting his breast, and his face in the dust ?^ Doubtless
doubtful interpretation, I cannot help remarking upon the great beauty of
this passage. The prophet king standing in the midst of the battle, upon
piles of armour, with his arms stretched forth ; at once the ensign around
which the discomfited Israelites were to rally, the token of the divine pre-
sence through which they were to conquer, and the symbol of that more
glorious dispensation whereby all the Israel of God were at length to
overcome their spiritual enemies, is a fine conception ; betraying nothing of
the illiterate simplicity which Dr. Mosheim charges upon the apostolical
fathers.
94 That is Joshua.
95 Dial., 317 D. See also 361 A.
9fi See Justin., u. s. 318 B.
262
the reason was, that wherever the Devil is to be conquered,
in the name of Jesus, the form of the cross must also be
exhibited, whereby alone Jesus himself gained the vic-
tory."^-^ No comparison, perhaps, will more strikingly
elicit, either the decline of doctrinal piety in the second
century, or the danger of the entire system of the ajx<pi/3oX/a.
We can find nothing to reprehend in the doctrine of Bar-
nabas ; it is pure scriptural truth : he sets forth the
atonement and sacrifice of him who was extended on the
cross as the only means whereby either Jew or Gentile can
be saved : we only complain that this truth is fancifully
and not wisely illustrated. But the fathers of the succeed-
ing period adopt his illustration, for the purpose of
introducing a new and most portentous doctrine into
Christianity. Israel conquered Amalek, not because God
heard the prayers of Moses, but through certain hidden
virtues which reside in the name of their leader, (Joshua,
or Jesus,) and in the figure of the cross which the person
of Moses exhibited ; the one acting after the manner of a
spell, or incantation, the other as a charm, or amulet.
There are other passages in the epistle of Barnabas,
whence his successors have deduced the same false doc-
trine. He thus paraphrases the Mosaic account of the
brazen serpent ;^ — " Moses made a type of Jesus to show
that he was to die, and then that he, whom they thought
to be dead, was to give life to others, in the sign^^ of those
^ Adv. Judaeos., c. 10.
96 Num. xati. 4—10.
99 U fftifAtiM. This is the Septuagint rendering of the word translated
*' pole" in the English Bible. Both the English and the Greek give the
meaning of the Hebrew word correctly (d3 Hum. acxi. 8) : it signifies the
pole on which a standard is set up ; but Barnabas's gloss is amphibological :
he adopts another meaning of the Greek word, that of a sign or type. For
this he was indebted to the Hellenising Jews. See Wisdom, c. 16.
that fell in Israel. For God called all sorts of serpents to
bite them, and they died ; forasmuch as by a serpent
transgression began in Eve : that so he might convince
them that for their transgressions they shall be delivered
into the pains of death. And so the same Moses, who had
commanded them, saying, ' ye shall not make to yourselves
any graven image, or molten image, to be your God,' yet
now did so himself that he might represent unto them a
type of Jesus. For he made a brazen serpent, and set it
up on high,^<^ and called the people together by proclama^
tion. And when they begged of Moses that he would
oifer sacrifice for them, and pray that they might be
healed, he said unto them : if any one among you is bitten
let him come to the serpent, which is placed upon the
tree,^^*^ and let him believe with hope, that though it be
dead yet it can make alive, and immediately he shall be
saved ; and they did so. Ye have also here the glory of
Jesus, in whom, and to whom, are all things.""^^^ There
appears, at first sight, little of any thing to except against
in this passage. That " Moses lifting up the serpent in
the wilderness'" was a type of " the lifting up of Him unto
whom " all the ends of the earth were to look and to be
saved," we know upon inspired authority. ^*^^ The ortho-
doxy and the piety of the writer are again very apparent :
and as to his making the pole a symbol of the cross, and
one or two other little embellishments, by which he hoped
to commend his annotations to his readers, they were the
100 iv^o^as, honourably.
101 t-rJ TV ^vXv. He returns to the sense in which the word g-nf^iiov
was used in the Greek Bible ; that of a pole or flag-staff. These double
meanings constitute the dft(pi(ioXl«.
102 c. 12.
103 John iii. 14.
2(54
taste of the times ; and after all, it may be asked, Where
was the great harm in them ? We shall see.
Justin Martyr thus improves upon Barnabas : —
" When the Israelites went forth from Egypt, and were
in the wilderness, they were met by many venomous crea-
tures, of all kinds; vipers, asps, and serpents, and the
people were slain. But Moses, by the inspiration and
operation of God, took brass and made the sign of the
cross, and set it upon the holy tabernacle, and said, ' if ye
look upon this type, and believe in it ye shall be saved.**
When this was done, we are told that the serpents died
and the people escaped."" ^^ It is abundantly evident here
that Justin adopted the comment of Barnabas ; but in
transfusing it into his own language, he has made many
changes, and all for the worse. Barnabas only hints at the
pole upon which the serpent was lifted up, as a type of the
Lord's cross. But with Justin it becomes a brazen figure |
of the cross. The former says that it was erected in a
conspicuous place, the latter places it on the summit of the
tabernacle. But worst of all, the heartfelt allusions to the
doctrine of the atonement, which cover such a multitude of
minor faults in the gloss of Barnabas, are entirely omitted ;
and scarcely even the cold orthodoxy of the passage
remains. It is to the efficacy of the figure of the cross,
not of the atonement of him who died thereon, that Justin
directs the faith of his readers.
TertuUian completes the work which Barnabas had so
unconsciously begun. "After Moses had prohibited making
the similitude of any thing, why did he set forth a brazen
serpent, placed upon a cross,^^^ and hanging therefrom, as
a healing sight for the children of Israel, when the people
IM Justin. Apol. I., 93 A, i<»5 Lignum.
265
were slain by serpents for their idolatry ?^^ Surely
hereby he intended the Lord's cross; and, at the same
time, pointed to that serpent the Devil,^^ showing forth
that whoever was bitten by such snakes, that is, his angels,
and looked upon the dispensation of the cross of Christ,
should be saved ."^^^
Every circumstance in the sign is now harmonised
with the thing signified. 'The pole on which the brazen
serpent was set up, was a cross, and denoted the cross of
Christ. The serpent itself, hanging thereupon, shadowed
forth to the arch enemy that destructiou of his works
which awaited him, through the sufferings of the Saviour
of the world. And the Israelites were healed, and the
fiery serpents destroyed, by the occult virtues residing in
the brazen image of a cross with a serpent hanging upon
it, which Moses placed on the summit of the tabernacle.
All this tissue of strange and idolatrous fiction originated
in the pious and well-meant comment of St. Barnabas.
As this double sense has certainly the appearance of
scriptural authority, it is quite needful that we should
here endeavour to point out in what the mistake of
Barnabas consisted. Our Saviour applies the healing
miracle of the brazen serpent to his own atonement in the
following terms : — '' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up ; that
106 This thought of St. Barnabas seems to have been considered by the
early fathers as a very powerful argument against the Jews. Justin makes
Trypho admit that he was himself greatly puzzled by the divine command
to Moses to perform an act which the second commandment had prohibited,
and that he had frequently referred his doubts to his own Rabbins without
obtaining any solution of them. — Dial. p. 322 B. C.
107 This idea has been adopted from Barnabas by Justin (ubi supra J
as well as by TertuUian.
lf>8 Adv. Jud., c. 10.
266
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eter-
nal life.'"^^'^ It may be observed, that the type bears upon
the antitype in two particulars, and in two only. The lift-
ing up of the serpent resembles the lifting up of the Son of
Man, and as they who looked upon the one were healed, so
also shall they who believe in the other be saved ; and as
the slightest extension of the metaphor introduces the
intolerable solecism of Christ typified by a serpent, this
limitation is obviously imposed upon it, in the strictest
sense. That, therefore, which is in no case desirable, (the
amplification of Scripture types and metaphors,) is, in the
present instance, absolutely inadmissible. But, unhappily,
Barnabas, in his zeal and anxiety to multiply the points of
resemblance between the type and the antitype, has taken
very unwarrantable liberties with the text of Moses. It
is evident that there is not the allusion to the serpent that
beguiled Eve, which he and his imitators have pointed out,
in the instrument here employed by the Almighty to
chastise the murmurings of the Israelites. This could
only have been the case, had the plague of venomous
serpents been the invariable mode in which the divine
indignation was expressed, during their whole sojourn in
the wilderness. The selection, in this instance, merely
exemplifies a rule to which all the miracles recorded in
Scripture will be found conformable. The supernatural
agency is there exerted, where it will least interfere with
the established order of nature. We have another example
of it in the miracle of the quails."^ Vast flocks of these
birds traverse the same regions even now; and instances
are upon record of their alighting through fatigue, in
masses as dense as those described in Holy Writ, when
they have been deflected from their ordinary course of
109 John iii. 14, 15. i»" Exod. xvi. 13. ; Num. xi. 31., &c.
267
migration by sudden storms. The miracle consisted in so
controlling the agency of the wind as to direct the living
shower to the camp of the Israelites. Thus was it also
with the miracle we are now considering. Israel mur-
mured against God in the desert that lies at the foot of the
mountains of Edom : and he employed the agency of the
venemous serpents which abound there, even to this day,
to chastise their ingratitude ; by causing them, contrary to
their natural instincts, to infest the camp in countless
multitudes. On these accounts, therefore, while we are
fully aware of the pious intentions of St. Barnabas, and
readily grant the perfect propriety of associating our
scriptural annotations with reminiscences of an event so
important as the fall, wherever the text will bear such an
allusion, we, notwithstanding, contend that his gloss in the
present instance, is an accommodation of the text which
can on no account be permitted.
That Moses, in making the brazen serpent, apparently
violated the second Commandment, is mere folly. This
prohibition is only directed against the fabrication of idols
for the purpose of worship : by no means against the whole
art of sculpture, of which such ample use was made in the
construction both of the tabernacle and the temple. As
then the serpent was not intended to be worshipped, there
was no more appearance of sin against the second Com-
mandment in casting it, than in constructing the cherubs
that overshadowed the mercy seat."^
lU The difficulty upon this point, which Justin puts into the mouth of
Trypho, is a strong presumption that this part of the dialogue is fabulous.
A well-read Jew like Trypho, would at once have overthrown his antago-
nist's argument by replying, that the brazen serpent was not intended to be
worshipped ; and that afterwards it was destroyed by Hezekiah, acting
under the inspiration of God, because the apostate Jews had included it
among the objects of their idolatry. — 2 Kings xviii. 4.
268
There are, besides, instances where Barnabas accom-
modates the inspired narrative to the antitype. This
account informs us that Moses prayed to the Lord, because
the people came and humbled themselves when they were
bitten, and received instructions to make the brazen
serpent as an answer to his prayer. According to Bar-
nabas, Moses first erected the serpent upon the pole, and
then called the people together by proclamation. In the
Scripture narrative, the people entreated Moses to pray
for them. Barnabas says they entreated him both to
pray and to make an atonement"^ for them. The one
merely reads, that when those who were bitten beheld, or
looked upon, the brazen serpent, they lived. But in St.
Barnabas we find, that Moses told the people they were to
come to the serpent, and believe in its powers of vivifi-
cation, before they could be saved. Now I entirely
acquit this venerable writer of wilful fraud and perversion
here. He evidently quoted the book of Numbers from
memory ; — a frequent practice, as it appears to me, with
the early fathers ; and one for which the great scarcity
of copies of the sacred books in those times, will satis-
factorily account : and nothing is more probable than
that he should, unconsciously, alter the text, so as to
accommodate it to the purpose for which he quoted it.
But let it be observed, that his successors construct their
versions entirely upon the corrupted and interpolated
readings of Barnabas. They do not give one point of
resemblance which is not, either in his comment, or
founded upon his mistakes.
We can, therefore, have no hesitation in rejecting the
whole of the gloss with which the early fathers have
supplied us upon this passage. The pole upon which the
112 Or oblation^ aveiffpuv.
269
brazen serpent was suspended, was neither a brazen figure
of the cross, nor a type of it : nor do we find in the brazen
serpent a clumsy inapposite representation of the destruc-
tion of Satan. The resemblance holds in the points
indicated by our Lord, and in no other ; and, consequently,
the relation which he establishes, between the two events,
may be properly termed illustrative, rather than typical.
This false comment has the same tendency as the
preceding ones ; to set forth the hidden virtues of the
cross. There are also other places in St. Barnabas, of
which the same use has been made by his successors. He
thus paraphrases the Scripture account of Jacob blessing
the sons of Joseph : ^^^ — " Joseph brought Manasseh to the
right hand of Jacob because he was his first-born, and
Ephraim to the left ; but Jacob, by the Spirit foresaw the
token^^^ of the people that was to come afterwards, and
he crossed his hands, and put his right hand upon
Ephraim, the younger son."*"^^^ Even an obscure and
casual hint, like this, at their favourite subject, was not
lost upon his successors. TertuUian amplifies it to its
full dimensions. " The Christian ceremony of the impo-
sition of hands,'*'' he informs us, '' is derived from the
ancient dispensation, wherein Jacob blessed Ephraim and
Manasseh, by putting his crossed hands upon their heads :
and they were extended cross-wise unto them, that thus
forming the symbol of Christ, they might foreshow the
blessing that was to come in him."'''"^ The folly of all
this will now no longer surprise us ; we merely notice
that here is another emphatical allusion to the figure of
the cross.
The fathers of the second century by no means
"3 Gen. xlviii. 14., &c. "^ rv^ov. l^^ Bar. Ep., c. 13.
116 De Baptismo, c. 7*
270
confined themselves to the adoption of St. Barnabas's
comments: they also profitted by his example. They,
too, could discover the figure of the cross in Scripture,
by the help of the a/x(p*/3oX/a. The following, from Justin
Martyr, is highly ingenious : — " ' His beauty is as the
first begotten of a bull, his horns are as the horns of an
unicorn.' '"""^ In this, the blessing of Joseph, God by Moses
indicates the power of the mystery of the cross. For
' the horns of an unicorn'' can have no other signification
than that of a type thereof. One of the beams is upright,
and when the transverse beam is fastened to it, the two
ends of this stick out like the horns of a bull, while the
summit of the other stands up like the horn of an unicorn.
That also which projects from the middle of the upright,
and sustains the weight of the crucified person, is shaped
like a horn, so that the cross seems made up of horns.
' And with them shall he gore the nations even unto the
ends of the earth.'^^^ This predicts what is now fulfilled
among all nations. For some every where are transfixed
by the horns of the cross ; that is, are converted by that
mystery from the worship of vain images and demons." "^
This is, perhaps, a more vigorous conception, and better
expressed, than any thing else that remains of this not very
striking writer. The double meaning he elicits has, in
addition, the merit of being capable of extensive and
convenient application. He himself gives us an instance,
in another place, of the same dialogue. The expression in
the twenty-second Psalm, " save me from the mouth of the
117 Tlpurlroxoi rttvpa ro kuXXos ahrv' Kifttra. //.ovoxiparos ra Ktparet avrv.
—Deut. xxxiii. I7. LXX.
118 |y ultroif sB^vti KtparnT a/t« tut ««•' eixpit 7?;.— Deut. U. s.
119 Dial., p. 318 C.
271
lion, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns," ^^o
he declares to have been spoken of our Lord, signifying by
what death he should die ; the unicorn'*s horn being a type
of the cross.^^^
TertuUian has deemed both these comments worthy
of adoption and amplification ; and as his version further
illustrates the nature of the entire system of the ajU^^j/SoAta,
we will lay this also before the reader. " Joseph was a
type of Christ, not only in being persecuted by his bre-
thren, because God had favoured him, even as was Christ
by his brethren in the flesh, the Jews, when the Father
had blessed him, but also in these words, ' His beauty
is that of a bull, his horns,' &c. (u. s.) By the unicorn
here, the prophet did not allude to a rhinoceros, nor to a
wild bull^^^ by the two-horned creature,^^^ but Christ is
denoted by the entire passage. He was to be a bull in
both his ofiices, fierce to some, as a judge, gentle to others,
as a Saviour ; whose horns would be the extremities of
the cross : for the two points of the transverse beam
thereof are called horns :^^* and the upright is like the
horn of an unicorn. Thus armed with the virtue of the
cross, and so horned, he now tosses all nations by faith,
throwing them up from earth to heaven ; but hereafter
120 "Sa/ffov fjLi ix r'ofJi'Ciroi xiovvast ««' «^« KipAruv fAovoKtpuruv rh
rutiivuffiv iJi.^. — Psa. xxi. 21., LXX.
121 U. s., p. 332 D.
122 Minotaurus.
123 Bicornis.
124 He terms the transverse, antenna^ " a sail yard ;" the two ends of
which are frequently named cornua, " horns," by the Latin poets. This is
both clever and learned ; though it will be observed, here as well as else-
where, that the early fathers were not all particular as to the language in
which they found their double meanings. They equally availed themselves
of them, whether they occurred in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew !
272
he will toss them in judgment, casting them down from
heaven to earth. The same bull is alluded to in the
prophecy of Jacob, regarding Simeon and Levi, that is,
the Scribes and Pharisees, for such is its spiritual interpre-
tation. He says of them, ' in their anger they slew men,'
that is, the prophets, ' and in their fierce anger they
houghed a bull,"*^^^ that is, Christ ; whose sinews they
lacerated with nails, after they had slain the prophets."" ^^
The mode in which the double meaning here multiplies
itself is somewhat remarkable. The horns are a symbol
of the cross, and, therefore, the bull that wears the horns
is a type of Christ ; and any text in Scripture which
contains that word, may be so interpreted. The cool
unceremonious manner in which, without a single expla-
natory remark, he tranfers the imprecations upon Simeon
and Levi to the Scribes and Pharisees, is somewhat
amusing. But the writers and admirers of such interpre-
tations were, of course, far superior to the weakness of
endangering so ingenious a comment by the nice investi-
gation of trifles like these.
The early fathers discovered the cross in Scripture by
another process, (borrowed probably, like the preceding,
from the Jewish Cabbalists,) which St. Barnabas also
introduced into Christianity, in the following passage : —
" Understand, children, these things more fully, that
Abraham, who was the first that brought in circumcision,
looking forward in the Spirit to Jesus, circumcised, having
received the mystery of three letters. For the Scripture
125 Ev tZ B^vfjcZ a'lTuv u^ixTiivuv avB^^u^ng, xeci iv rri i^iB^vf^iet airtuv
ivtvpeKo<rti<ra,v raTpov. — Gen. xlix. 6., Sept.
126 Adv. Marcionem, lib. 3., c. 18. Nearly the identical passage also
occurs, Adv. Judaeos, c 10. In the same places will also be found Justin's
comment on the 22nd Psalm, which Tertullian, with the Septuagint, calls
the 21st- See Note 26.
p
273
says that Abraham circumcised three hundred and eighteen
men of his house. But what, therefore, was the mystery
that was made known unto him ? Mark, first the eighteen
and next the three hundred ; for the numeral letter of ten
and eight are »»}, and these denote I>j(r»j Jesus. And
because the cross was that by which we were to find grace,
therefore, he adds, three hundred, the note of which is t
(the figure of the cross.) Wherefore, by two letters he
signified Jesus, and by the third his cross.''''^^^ We again
object to this comment, that Barnabas quotes Scripture
incorrectly. The number of persons whom Abraham
circumcised is not specified in Scripture.^^^ We find that
long before that event he led forth three hundred and eigh-
teen armed servants to the battle with the five kings ; ^^
and as every male of his household, from eight days old
upwards, underwent the rite, we conclude that the number
of persons circumcised would be much greater. Bar-
nabas has evidently confounded the two passages. This is
the only serious objection I shall offer to a comment, the
whole of which has, nevertheless, been deemed worthy of a
serious defence.^^ His erroneous quotations of Scripture
I have before endeavoured to account for, and in some
measure to excuse. But, in the present instance, it must
be borne in mind, that his comment is grounded altogether
127 Bar. Epis., c. 9.
128 See Gen. xvii. 23—27.
129 Gen. xiv. 14.
130 The defence rests upon a similar use of the Greek enumeration by
St. John, in the Apocalypse, xiii. 17, 18. But I do not see how the appli-
cation of numerals to a name by an inspired author, who wrote in Greek,
and at a time when such applications were common, establishes the proba-
bility that a mystical number involving a prophecy, should be revealed, ages
before the invention of the cypher which was to be the key to the
mystery.
T
274
upon his blunder. He wishes to show that Abraham, in
instituting the seal of the old covenant, typified the sign of
the new one, that is, Christ crucified, (Ir)(r«j s-aupcodejj) in
the number of persons whom he circumcised : and it is,
therefore, the more to be regretted that he should have
wound up such a comment in the following terms : — " He
who put the engrafted gift of his doctrine within us knows
that I never taught to any one a more certain truth !" ^^^
With due deference to the apologists of this comment,
both ancient and modern, there is one difficulty connected
with it, which the early fathers, and especially Clement of
Alexandria, were well able to have apprehended. Since
Abraham lived some ages before Cadmus, the inventor of
the Greek alphabet, how came he, notwithstanding, to be
so well acquainted with it ? This objection had already
been very skilfully applied by Irenaeus, in confutation of
the not more absurd numerical mysteries of the heretic
Marcus. ^^^ Yet even this consideration was not powerful
enough to overcome the love of this species of the marvel-
lous that possessed Clement of Alexandria : he, oddly
enough, introduces it into a long argument intended to
allay the fears of a large class of his cotemporaries,
" who," as he says, " were as much afraid of the Greek
philosophy as children of hobgoblin s."^^ He wishes to
show the great advantages which religion may derive, not
only from the metaphysical pursuits of philosophy, but
also from her researches in the natural sciences ; by citing
the example of certain Old Testament worthies who had
131 This claim of inspiration, for a comment founded upon a misquo-
tation of Scripture, satisfactorily disposes of all similar claims on the part
of the apostolical fathers. See above, pp. 25. e. s.
132 Adv. Haer., lib. 1. c. 12., § 4.
133 fAapfiokvKiK. 6 Strom., § 10.
k
275
successfully cultivated tliem : David, for instance, who
was a proficient in the theory and practice of music ; and
Moses, whose attainments in geometry are so conspicuous
in his account of the dimensions of the tabernacle. Abra-
ham also rose '' through nature up to nature''s God"*"* by
that long series of observations upon the starry heavens,
and upon the motions of the planetary bodies, which have
given him so high a reputation for skill in astronomy ; ^^
and he also arrived at an equal proficiency in the sister
science of arithmetic. This he demonstrates in the follow-
jdng terms : — " When Abraham heard that Lot was carried
away captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen
trained servants,^^^ attacked the enemy, and conquered a
greatly superior force. It is said that the numeral for
300 (t) is the sign of the Lord's cross, and that the iota
and eta (»>]), which stand for 18, denote the saving name
(I>]o-«? the Saviour.) Showing forth, therefore, that they
are the servants of Abraham, as it respects salvation, who
fly to the cross and name of the Lord, and overcome
those that lead into captivity, and the many Gentile
nations who follow them.''^^ Here it will be observed,
that Clement tacitly corrects the blunder of Barnabas, but,
134 For this notion he was indebted to Philo Judaeus, ^ip) Afipaa/x.,
p . 282 B. A book, the purport of which is to show that Abraham attained
to the knowledge of divine things, with which he was favoured, by dint of
his researches in astronomy and other branches of philosophy. Clement's
Christianity was built altogether upon Philo's Judaism. The wretched phi-
losophising of Josephus and Philo upon the miracles of the Old Testament,
is now taken much advantage of by the infidel writers on the Continent.
It has long been a prevalent notion in the East, that Abraham was a
great astronomer. The origin of it being merely that he was a native of
Chaldaea, which was afterwards celebrated for such pursuits. — Fab. Cod.
Pseud. Vet. Test. Vol. /., pp. 341., e. s.
135 Gen. xiv. 14.
136 6 Strom., § 11.
S76
notwithstanding, is quite as successful in giving a pious
application to the mystery. It is, therefore, evidently of
no importance whether the mystical cypher represent the
number of Abraham's trained servants that went forth to
fight, or (by a mistake of the commentator) the number of
males in his household who underwent the rite of circum-
cision. For we find that, though the mistake suggested
the interpretation, a little ingenuity has discovered an
equally edifying paraphrase upon it, when the blunder is
corrected ! But we are by no means to imagine, that the
principal of the school of philosophy at Alexandria would
rest contented with the humble office of copyist and cor-
rector of Barnabas. He also has favoured us with his
own variations upon so promising a theme. It is in the
following strain of sublimity : — " The number three
hundred is a triad in a century : the decad (10) is,
without controversy, the all-perfect number : and the
eight is the first cube, having equality in all its dimensions
length, breadth, and thickness. ' The days of man,' says
the word, ' shall be one hundred and twenty years ;' *^
this number is, by synthesis, the fifteenth from the
monad,^^ and the moon becomes full on the fifteenth day.
Otherwise, 120 is a triangular number, (a multiple of
three), and is composed of the numbers 64 and 56,
Sixty-four is composed of the first cube 8, being an
even number of uneven parts ascending in arithmetical
progression from the monad ;^^ fifty-six is compounded of
137 Gen. vi. 3.
138 1+2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6+7 + 8 + 9+ 10+11
+ 12 + 13 + 14 + 16 = 120.
139 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 = 64.
He means that there are eight terms in this progression, and that all of
them are o<ld numbers.
•«s
277
an odd number of even parts, commencing with the dyad,
(2) that odd number being seven, one of the perfect
numbers. ^^ By another signification, 120, is compounded
of four numbers, fifteen a triangle (3x5); twenty-five a
square (5^ ): thirty-five a pentagon (7x5); forty-five a hex-
agon ;^^^ these numbers are constructed upon the analogy
of the number five, which is the basis of all of them. Now
the number twenty-five is said to be the symbol of the
tribe of Levi,"^^ &c. &c. &c. Mr. Faber, in his admirable
work on prophecy, speaks of a school-boy with a slate and
pencil adjusting the numerical name of the seven-headed
monster in the apocalypse ! I would only remark upon
the preceding quotation, that I know what the school-boy
would deserve, who should prostitute his slate and pencil
to the intolerable nonsense which our Alexandrian philo-
sopher gravely propounds as the very summit and perfec-
tion of Christian knowledge. Let me not be told that the
Pythagoreans and Cabbalists had already awakened a taste
for researches into the hidden properties of numbers, and
that Clement merely wrote in accordance with the philo-
sophy of the times. The perfect Revelation of God is
invested with a dignity and simplicity which ought always
to have guarded it against such profanations, from those
140 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 4- 10 + 12 + 14 = 56. This progres-
sion consists of seven even numbers.
141 So says the author, and so it certainly ought to be, to answer the
purpose of his argument; but, unfortunately, there is an arithmetical
objection to the arrangement, which probably he got over thus : — 6 X 5
= 30. the hexagon ; and the remaining fifteen, which completes the forty-
five, is a repetition of the triangle, with which the series commenced.
15 + 25 + 35 + 45 (that is, 30 + 15) = 120. I suppose that
this is the philosopher's meaning ; if it is not, " I am free to confess" that I
ilont know what he meant.
J42 G Strom., § 11.
n
278
who profess themselves its defenders. And, moreover, the
entire insanity of mystical arithmetic had been already
most ably exposed, and by his immediate predecessor,
Irenaeus ; with whose works he was evidently very familiar.
I have the more pleasure in laying before the reader an
extract from his masterly argument, because I have to
acknowledge that it has completely exploded a few grains
of this folly, which still lurked in my own mind, regarding
the triad and the heptad. He is confuting the dogma of
the Marcosian heretics, that the divine nature existed in
ogdoads, or eights : — " We will grant that their argument
is a perfectly true one ; and that the instances they give us
of the occurrence of the number eight in Scripture, are
deduced from thence by a correct rule of interpretation,
and to be received.^'^^ But we contend that there is another
number, which neither aids their argument, nor concurs
with their figment, but which, nevertheless, rests upon a
much more extended basis of Scripture authority. There
are Jive letters in the name ^ojxrjp Saviour, and the words
"KOLTYip father, and aya7r>) love, are formed also of the same
number. Our Lord blessed Jive loaves, and with them
satisfied the hunger oi Jive thousand persons. He also
informs us that there were Jive wise virgins and Jive
foolish. Again, there were^ve persons with our Lord
at his transfiguration, Peter, James, John, Moses, and
Elias ; Dives, in hell, told Abraham that he had Jive
brothers. The pool of Bethesda had Jive gates. The
form of the cross has five points ; the four extremities of
the two beams, and that in the middle, which sustains the
143 Adv. Haer., lib. 2. c. 42. I have here somewhat paraphrased the
original, in order to connect it with the subject of the two preceding chap-
ters ; in which he shows the foolish and unwarrantable liberties they have
taken with the text to obtain the number thev wanted.
279
person to be crucified. ^^ There are also Jive fingers on
each hand ; Jive books of Moses, Jive Commandments on
each of the tables of the Decalogue. Five priests were
consecrated in the desert ; Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar,
and Ithamar. Their garments were woven of Jive co-
lours.^"*^ There were also Jive kings of the Amorites,
whom Joshua shut up in the cave. And many thousands
of such coincidences upon this number, may be found by
any one who will be at the trouble of looking for them,
either in the Word of God, or in the works of nature.
But we do not, on this account, teach that there are Jive
aeons in the pleroma above the demiurge (creator) ; nor do
we consecrate the pentad (5) as something divine ; nor do
we endeavour to corroborate such ravings by this our vain
labour ; wresting the well-ordered creations of God into
types which have no existence, and introducing thereby,
impious and wicked dogmas, which any one of ordinary
understanding may overturn." How Clement of Alexan-
dria, or any one else in his senses, could withstand the
overwhelming force of this reasoning, and persevere in
such trifling, I cannot comprehend.
After these quotations the following will appear but
vapid : He thus defends the use of instrumental music : —
" ' Praise him on the ten-stringed Psaltery."'^'"' By the
ten-stringed Psaltery we are to understand the incarnate
Word : for the cypher for 10 is iota (j) which is also
the first letter in Iijo-wj Jesus."^*^ '' Our paedagogue is
firm and upright ; this is denoted by the first letter in his
144 According to later authorities, the scabella, or footstool. There is
the same allusion in our quotation from Justin Martyr, p. 270.
145 Exod. xxviii. 1 — 5.
146 Psa. xxxiii. 2.
147 Paed., lib. 2. c. 4.
280
name, I in Iijcwj."^*^ These, however, further illustrate the
use of the numerical mode of the a/x,^*/3oX(a ; the instances
of which are not of very frequent occurrence in the
writings of the early fathers, and will not, therefore,
require any more particular observations.
Our amphibolical quotations hitherto have borne
altogether upon the cross. We have noticed a constant
effort to multiply the number of scriptural allusions to it,
by giving such a meaning to the most improbable places.
All the particulars of its external appearance are diffusively
dwelt upon. That which in the first century was ascribed
to the divine energy of him who was crucified, is, in the
writers of the second, (frequently by implication, and
more than once by express declaration) taught to be the
effects of certain magical virtues residing in the figure of
the cross. This error, like so many of the preceding ones,
soon yielded its fruits. Very shortly afterwards, all who
professed the Christian name were called upon, not to
prostrate their hearts before Christ crucified, but their
persons before the crucifix ; and, instead of worshipping
" him who died on tree," to pay their adorations to the
tree on which he died !
It will also have been observed, that several of the
glosses which we have quoted, equivocate upon the names
and titles of our Lord. As this is, with the early fathers,
an ordinary mode of applying the canon of comment we
are considering, we will exemplify it by an instance or two,
which will again illustrate the influence which the epistle
of St. Barnabas exercised over the church in the second
century.
" Jesus (that is, Joshua) is said to have circumcised
the people a second time ' with stone knives,'^"*® because
148 Pad., lib. 1. c. a.
281
Jesus Christ is the herald of that circumcision wherewith
he hath circumcised us from stones and other idols. And
he hath made ' heaps of the foreskins'^^*^ of those that were
uncircumcised from the error of the world, who are now
circumcised with the ' stone knives'* of Jesus our Lord,
that is, with his words. For Jesus is often called by the
prophets ' a stone' and ' a rock :' by stone knives, therefore,
we are to understand his words, whereby so many who
were in error through uncircumcision have been circum-
cised with the circumcision of the heart. All, therefore,
who enter into the heavenly Canaan, undergo this circum-
cision by the stone knives of Jesus.*"^^^ " When the ark of
the covenant had been taken by the men of Ashdod and
was returned by them on account of the plagues wherewith
they were smitten, ^^^ the heifers that drew the car which
contained it, under no mortal guidance, took it to the field
of a certain man named Jesus, (that is, Joshua,) and stood
still ; whereby we are to understand that they were
directed by the power of that name."^^^
I will mention here an objection to the practice of
throwing the narratives of the Old Testament into types of
the New Dispensation, which appears to me an important
one. Has it not a direct tendency to raise and to
confirm the infidel notion that the events there narrated
are by no means to be viewed in the light of literally
historical facts, but of mere parables, founded indeed
upon history, but embellished by the narrator, to suit
150 jSavoj ruv axpo^uttav. Id.
151 Justin. Dial., p. 341 A. The extract is preceded by much more
to the same purport, and followed by a dissertation at length upon Christ
the stone ; I have only taken what appeared to be the most remarkable
age.
152 1 Sam. vii. 7—14.
J53 Ubi supra., p. 362 B., where sec more.
282
the purpose for which he relates it ? The idea that the
two dispensations of God have been so ordered that the
one is, not merely the type, but the very protoplast of
the other ; the resemblance holding throughout every
possible particular, with such minute exactness, as to
justify the obscure, and scarcely comprehensible allusions
which the early fathers so often discover, and of which
our present quotations afford us the example, is, in itself,
so complex, and, therefore, so discordant with every
thing that is revealed to us regarding the divine mode
of operation, that we are not surprised that they who
maintain it should endeavour to rid themselves of the
difficulty by the invention of some easier expedient; by
the supposition that the inspired historians altered and
embellished their narrations in the spirit of prophecy,
or, in plainer terms, that they lied by the Holy Ghost. ^^^
Philo, who wishes to identify Judaism with philosophy,
was certainly of this opinion ; and I am not prepared to
154 That my meaning may not be misconceived, I will further illus-
trate it from the example before us. There is a perfect propriety in eluci-
dating the captivity of the world to sin by the Egyptian bondage ; the
conversion to Christianity, of which water baptism is the figure, by the
passage through the Red Sea ; the vicissitudes of the Christian life, by the
sojourn in the wilderness ; and the '' rest that remaineth for the people of
God" by the promised land of Canaan : because for all these we have scrip-
tural authority. Nor am I insensible to the beauty, as well as the propriety,
of the illustration. But the connection between the two is purely metapho-
rical ; it partakes not at all of the nature of protoplasm, or sympathy ; we
allow of nothing beyond that air of general resemblance which justifies the
use of the figure. In the instances before us, therefore, we cannot hesitate
to deny that there is any relation, typical, or sympathetical, between the
names of the son of Nun and the Son of God, because such an application
runs the metaphor aground, which is a greater offence in divinity than even
in literature. And besides, the inspired writings connect the two names,
not in the way of type, but of antithesis. Heb. iv.
283
say that the philosophical Christianism of the second
century was entirely free from it. I have sometimes
been led to entertain the suspicion in perusing the works
of its professors.
The following very objectionable comment well
exemplifies, both the evil of these historical types, and
the extent of licence allowed in the second century to
the ajOKpi/3oA/a ; which, it will be seen, was by no means
confined to the cross and names of Christ, but applied
to every thing relating to him. "If any one will look
into the acts of Jacob, he will find them not unmeaning,
but full of dispensation. In the first place, at his birth ;
he was called Jacob, a supplanter, because he laid hold
on his brother's heel ; holding, not being himself held ;
binding feet, not being bound himself ; holding in his
hand the heel of his adversary, that is the victory. Even
unto this also, the Lord was born, of whom Jacob was
the type as well as the progenitor ; and of whom John
says in the Apocalypse : ' he went forth conquering and
to conquer.' Jacob then attained the primogeniture, when
his brother despised it, even as also we, the younger
people, obtained Christ, when our older brethren in grace
(the Jews) rejected him, saying, ' we have no king but
Caesar,' There is a universal blessing in Christ ; and,
therefore, the Father's blessing upon the first people the
last stole away : even as Jacob got the blessing from Esau.
And as on this account he was greatly persecuted by his
brother, so also the church at this day suffers persecution
from the Jews. The descendants of Jacob became twelve
tribes, and Christ hath founded his church upon the
twelve-pillared basis of the apostles. The spotted sheep
were Jacob's wages ;^^ and the wages of Christ are men
155 Gen. XXX. 32.
284
of various and diiFering nations, gathered together into one
cohort, and made of one faith ; as the Father hath pro-
mised, * Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance.'^^ And as JacoVs numerous family
were prophetic of the multitude that should be bom unto
the Lord, it was needful that he should beget them of
two sisters, even as Chrisfs children came from two laws,
of one and the same lawgiver. A part of Jacob's family
was also by two hand-maidens ; signifying how, according
to the flesh, Christ makes the sons of God both of bond
and free, giving the Spirit that quickens us, unto all.
But Jacob did all things for the sake of her who had
beautiful eyes, even Rachel, who prefigured the church
on account of which Christ suffered. No part of Jacob's
history is without significancy."^^^
There is a gravity in the style of Irenseus, as well
as an ingenuity, in the application of the amphibolical
meanings in this passage, which gives it, at first sight, a
very imposing and plausible appearance : but a slight
examination will suffice to detect its real character ; it is
a tissue of wretched trifling, surpassed in utter absurdity,
yea buffoonery, by nothing which is before the reader.
Nor can we better expose the folly of the entire system,
than by comparing it with the gloss we have already
given from Tertullian upon the same passage ;^^ when
it will be observed that the same Jacob and Esau, in
whom the one discovers a type of Gentiles and Jews, the
other finds to be an equally instructive symbol of Christ
and Satan ; and that the very events which the one inter-
prets as predictive of the acceptance of the Gentiles, and
the rejection of the Jews, the other, with the aid of the
ufx^i^oxlot, applies to the victories of Christ and the dis-
l-'ifi Psa. ii. 8. ^^7 Iren., lib. 4. c. 3fl. l-'"'" Page 240.
285
comfiture of his enemies : and that both are equally
fortunate in the discovery of coincidences.^^^
We will conclude our view of the mode in which
the early fathers interpreted the Scriptures, by a few
examples of their comments upon the ceremonial law.
These, like the last quotation, are also strictly and pro-
perly amphibolical ; they only differ from the others in
equivocating upon the sense of a sentence, instead of upon
the meaning of a word. These also originated with the
epistle of Barnabas, and the argument for its authenticity
is, therefore, placed in this commanding position ; the
whole of those passages which were supposed to throw
discredit upon it, we can authenticate by a host of
authorities from the works of his immediate successors.
Consequently the identity of no book out of the sacred
canon rests upon so firm a basis of evidence as the epistle
of Barnabas.
The reasons of the Mosaic precepts and prohibitions
regarding animal food have formed a favourite subject
of speculation both with Jewish and Christian mystics
in all ages : and even commentators of a graver and
more solid character seem to become mystical when they
approach this portion of Holy Writ. Professing the
utmost regard for the general character of many admirable
commentaries, which give an ethical interpretation to the
eleventh of Leviticus and the fourteenth of Deuteronomy,
and teach us to regard the natural habits of the animals
there permitted and prohibited, as types of moral qualities
159 The fact that certain prophecies regarding the advents of our Lord
have received an inchoate accomplishment at the first, and wait until his
second coming for their complete fulfilment, gives no countenance whatever
to these interpretations: which refer to events chronologically identical,
and point out the same historical personages, as types of two different sets
of actors in the same drama.
286
in men, the possessors of which are in like manner to be
sought or avoided, I would submit, that it is by no means
an ordinary mode of the divine procedure to wrap up rules
and maxims which regard the ordinary conduct of life in
amphibologies and enigmas. Types and figures are em-
ployed in the Bible to foreshadow future events and
dispensations, not to " darken the council"'"' of moral
precepts. Another formidable difficulty also arises from
the circumstance, that we have not yet ascertained the
animals which many of the names employed in these
passages are intended to designate : and as, until this
question is set at rest, we certainly cannot decide upon
the qualities which their habits are to symbolise, it must
of course be conceded, even by those who maintain that
such is their true meaning, that the whole subject demands
further investigation ; and I feel persuaded, that if the
enquiry be properly conducted, it will be fully elucidated.
If I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture upon a
matter as yet so imperfectly known, I suspect that they
merely embody the customs upon the subject of animal
food which the Israelites had adopted during their long
sojourn in Egypt ; and that they were so sanctioned for
the purpose of purifying them from the idolatrous asso-
ciations with which, in that nation of animal worshippers,
they were sure to be mixed up. For if we carefully
observe the mode in which the revelations of God have
invariably borne upon those nations, or families of men,
to whom they were immediately vouchsafed, we shall find
that not only have all needless interferences with the exist-
ing customs of ordinary life been avoided, but the new
dispensation has, in certain instances, been so framed as
expressly to adopt and sanction them. The case before
us, (should my conjecture prove correct), will furnish
287
an example of this : and similar ones occur also in the
Christian, as well as in the Jewish, economies.
Barnabas thus spiritualises the precepts in question :
— " Why did Moses say ' Ye shall not eat of the swine,
neither the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the crow, nor any fish
that has not a scale upon him P"^^ I answer, that in the
spiritual sense he comprehended three doctrines that were
to be gathered from thence. Besides which, he says to them
in the book of Deuteronomy, ' and I will give my statutes
to this people."*^^^ Wherefore it is not the command of
God that they should not eat these things ; but Moses in
the spirit spoke unto them.^^^ Now the sow he forbade
them to eat ; meaning thus much : thou shalt not join
thyself unto such persons as are like unto swine: who,
whilst they live in pleasure, forget their God; but when
any want pinches them, then they know the Lord : as the
sow when she is full knows not her master ; but when she
is hungry she makes a noise ; and being again fed, is
silent. ' Neither,' says he ' shalt thou eat the hawk nor
the kite, nor the crow ;' that is, Thou shalt not keep
company with such kind of men as know not how to labour
and sweat to get themselves food : but injuriously ravish
away the things of others ; and watch how to lay snares
for them ; when, at the same time, they appear to live in
perfect innocence. So these birds seek not food for them-
selves, but, sitting idle, seek how they may eat of the flesh
160 Lev. xi. 9—19. Deut. xiv. 9—19.
161 Deut. iv. 8.
162 He probably meant to say, that the part of the Mosaic writings
upon which he is commenting was not inspired to the same degree as the
Decalogue. This notion of degrees of inspiration originated with the Hellen-
ising Jews, from whom Barnabas adopted this comment, and is closely
allied to the error that the Scripture narratives are parables, which we have
traced to the same source.
which others have provided, being destructive through
their wickedness. ' Neither,' says he, ' shalt thou eat
the lamprey, nor the polypus, nor the cuttle fish f that
is, thou shalt not be like such men by using to converse
with them ; who are altogether wicked and adjudged to
death.^^ For so these fishes alone are accursed which
wallow in the mire, nor swim, as other fishes, but tumble
in the dirt at the bottom of the deep. Moses, therefore,
speaking as concerning meats, delivered three great
precepts to them in the spiritual signification of these
commands : but they, according to the desires of the flesh,
understood him as if he had only meant it of meats. And,
therefore, David took aright the knowledge (yvaxrig) of this
three-fold command, saying in this manner, ' Blessed is
the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the
ungodly ;' as the fishes before mentioned in the bottom of
the deep in darkness ; ' nor stood in the way of sinners,'
as they who seem to fear the Lord and yet sin as the sow.
' And hath not sat in the seat of the scomers ;'^^* as those
birds who sit and watch that they may devour. Here you
have the law perfectly set forth according to the true
knowledge of it. But says Moses, ' ye shall eat all that
cleaveth the hoof and cheweth the cud;^^ signifying
thereby such a one as having taken his food, knows him
that nourisheth him ; and resting upon him rejoiceth in
him. But why might they eat those that cleave the hoof?
163 I, for obvious reasons, omit here his comment upon the prohibitions
regarding the hare, the hyaena, and the weasel : — their gross absurdity, and
filthy indecency, are too well known already. Clement of Alexandria makes
this passage in Barnabas the text of an extended and elaborate comment,
Paed., lib. 2. c. 10., concerning which, it may suffice to remark, that in both
the qualities just specified he far surpasses his original.
164 Psa. i. 1.
185 Lev. xi. 3, &c
289
because the righteous liveth in this present world ; but his
expectation is fixed upon the other. See, brethren, how
admirably Moses commanded these things."^*^
This comment, which is little more than the adoption
and Christianization of certain philosophical speculations
upon the Mosaic law by the semi-infidel Jew, Philo, ^^^
was both copied and imitated by the fathers of the second
century. We will give a single instance.
Irenseus quotes two texts^^^ for the purpose of
showing that men may, with propriety, be compared to
beasts, and then proceeds thus : — " The law also hath
figuratively predicted all these things, delineating men by
animals. Those that divide the hoof and chew the cud
it declares to be clean, but those that fail in either of
these are unclean. Who then are clean ? They who walk
firmly by faith in the Father and the Son ; this is the
cloven hoof that imparts firmness unto them : ' and who
meditate in the words of God day and night C^^ this is
their power of ruminating. The unclean are those who
have neither a cloven hoof nor ruminate, that is, who
have neither faith in God nor meditate upon his word,
which is the abomination of the Gentiles. By them ' that
chew the cud but divide not the hoof,' the Jews are
figuratively described ; who have, indeed, the Word of
God in their mouths, but do not rootedly establish them-
selves in the Father and the Son. On this account they
are liable to stumble ; for whole hoofed animals easily slip,
but those that are double hoofed walk with a firmer step,
because the one hoof supports the other. They also are
unclean ' which cleave the hoof and chew not the cud ;'
166 Barn. Ep. Cath. c. 10.
167 Utpi Tiupyiai. Opera, pp. 160 F. et seq.
168 Pea. xlix. 20. ; Jer. v. 8. 169 Psa. i. 2. See Barnabas above.
U
290
this shows forth the heretics, and those who do not meditate
upon the Word of God, nor adorn it with good works ;
of whom the Lord says, * Why say ye unto me, Lord,
Lord, and do not the things which I tell you P'^^o They
who are such say indeed that they believe in the Father
and the Son, but they never meditate on the Word of God
as they ought, nor are they adorned with good works ;
but as we have said they live the life of swine and dogs,
giving themselves over to impurity and gluttony. — Justly,
therefore, are such termed by the apostle ' carnal,'^^! and
by the prophets, cattle and wild beasts.''^^^
This grievous perversion and waste of great inge-
nuity of conception, and remarkable neatness of construc-
tion and application is evidently founded upon the gloss
of St. Barnabas ; and, therefore, proves that it was
accepted by his successors as the standard comment upon
the passage.
Clement of Alexandria also repeatedly quotes and
adopts this interpretation,^^^ and in two places^^'^ expressly
ascribes it to St. Barnabas As this is the passage upon
which the objection to the authority of the epistle has
mainly rested, we may, I think, fairly presume that the
doubt regarding it is satisfactorily set at rest.
Having now sufficiently shown the mode of comment
and interpretation of the Word of God which the early
fathers employed, the arguments by which they justified
and defended it, will next claim our brief consideration.
One principal purpose of the Stromates of Clement of
170 Luke vi. 46.
171 1 Cor. ii. 14.
172 Adv. H£Br., lib. 5. c. 8.
173PaBd. 2. c. 8., 3. c. 11., &c.
174 2 Strom., § 15. ; 5 Strom., § 8. He frequently quotes him : some-
times with the title Betfvdficc; i u-roroXot. 2 Strom., § 7-, &c.
291
Alexandria is the defence of the i.fx(^i(SoXlu, which lie
grounds upon one of those fancied analogies, or sympa-
thies, by which the ancients so often allowed themselves
to be misled. These glosses held in Christian doctrine
the corresponding place to asceticism in Christian practice;
and together constituted its highest style, its consumma-
tion and perfection : and he whose life and opinions
exhibited this combination, was the only true professor
of Gnosticism, ^'^^ by which title he was honourably distin-
guished. His gifted eye pierced through the mere
external sense of the written word, and surveyed the inner
mysteries of Christianity ; those sublime and recondite
truths to which the amphibolies we have quoted were the
introduction, which it was one purpose of Revelation to
conceal, (if the solecism be allowed) and which were,
therefore, not to be written, lest they should fall into the
hands of the uninitiated. " Some of the secret doctrines,"
says Clement, " I of purpose pretermit, having made a
selection, and fearing to write that which I must have
warned some against reading. Not that I envy others the
possession of them ; that would be unjust ; but I was
afraid lest they should prove the means of leading men
into error. And thus we should have been found to have
given a child a sword to play with,, as the prov^rbialists
have it.'"^'^'^ Again he says, " I am afraid to cast these
pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their
feet and turn again and rend us ; for it is difficult to speak
pure and perspicuous words concerning the true wisdom
to swinish and unlearned auditors, who will laugh at
175 I need scarcely remark that this is an amphibolical interpretation of
the New Testament word, yvufft?.
176 1 Strom., § 1. Had he exercised this discretion soundly, his eight
books of Stromates would have shrunk into a very small compass.
292
mysteries which men of loftier intellect deem most won-
derful, and redolent of in spi ration. ''^^^ His defence of these
hidden meanings, and of the mode of interpretation which
elicits them, is so scattered through the whole of this
diffuse and parenthetical production, that I find great
difficulty in collecting and arranging it. He sometimes
justifies them by arguments drawn from the nature of
things : thus, " When truth is exhibited covered with a
veil it appears greater and more majestic, as ripe fruits
seen in a vessel of clear water are invested with a brighter
and softer beauty ; and as all things seem larger and
more important beneath the folds of a mantle.'"^'^^ He
cites the example of our Saviour, who, by his account,
repelled the temptations of Satan by means of amphibo-
lical applications of Scripture ;^^^ of Moses, the whole of
whose five books are an enigma admitting of a quadruple
solution,^^ or, if it be considered as a law, of a triple
reception ;^^* and of the prophets, whose writings so abound
with mystic sayings and equivocations that it would be
tedious to bring them together.^^^ He also quotes Scrip-
ture in defence of this mode of interpretation ; but his
comments are themselves amphibolical in almost every
in stance. ^®^ He does not seem to have been aware, that
177 1 Strom., § 12. If this is the standard of intellectual superiority, I
certainly must acknowledge myself to be one of " the swinish multitude."
178 5 Strom., § 9.
179 1 Strom., § 9. This is a mistake.
180 It may be interpreted historically, nomothetically, (or legally,)
physically, or Theologically.
181 It may be received as a sign revealing, as a command exhorting, or
as a prophecy predicting — 1 Strom.^ § 28. He probably found this non-
sense in Philo.
182 5 Strom., § 6.
183 See 1 Strom., § 9—12. ; 2 Strom., § 2. ; 5 Strom., § 4., a. f. ; like-
293
when he made his rule prove itself he was arguing in a
circle.
But the most important and instructive part of his
defence remains to be considered. He justifies the double
meanings in the Bible, and the secret doctrines to be
deduced therefrom, by the example of the Egyptian hiero-
glyphics, which were used for the purpose of conceal-
ment ;^^ of the Greek wise men, philosophers, and poets,
all of whom had their dark sayings ;^^^ — of Pythagoras,
whose aphorisms were capable of no other mode of inter-
pretation ;^^ and finally by the universal practice of all
idolatries, both Greek and barbarian, of wrapping up
certain abstruse dogmas of their religion in types and
mysteries which were not revealed but to the initiated.^^
This invaluable admission at once furnishes us with
the key to that which must have hitherto appeared so
extraordinary and unaccountable. The same heathenism
which warped the opinions and dogmas of the early
fathers upon every point of divinity we have hitherto
considered, we now find to have dictated even their
mode of interpreting the Scriptures. They regarded
them exactly in the light of the jxJ^o< or sacred books
of idolatry. — As these consisted altogether of ridiculous,
wise sections 6, 8, and 10, of the same book, where absurdities will be
found far surpassing any thing we have quoted. In the 12th Section also
will be found a number of texts cited in defence of these secret doctrines,
which have no other relation to the subject than that they contain the word
KpvT]uv, '* to hide," or some of its compounds.
184 5 Strom., § 4. This is the well-known passage which contains an
explanation of the systems of writing in use among the Egyptians. Se«
also § 7, 9.
185 Ubi supra., §9, 10, 11, &c.
186 § 5,
187 § 8. •
294
and often unclean, fables, it became customary to uphold
their authority by the fiction, that under them were
concealed (as in parables and allegories) disclosures
regarding the visible and invisible creation, profound
maxims of wisdom, and other abstruse and hidden veri-
ties : the literal meaning being the veil by which they were
enshrined from the vulgar gaze, and which was lifted up
to those only who submitted themselves to that series of
washings and other probationary ceremonies which consti-
tuted initiation into the mysteries, as it was then termed.
By a very natural process, this notion passed from the
religion into the philosophy of the ancient world. We
have the ewoteric and esoteric, the outer and inner doctrines
of the Aristoteleans. Pythagoras also constructed two
sets of interpretations of his own dogmas, as well as two
codes of discipline, for the two classes of his followers : —
the one for those who mingled in the affairs of life ; the
other, which was much more abstruse and mystical, for the
ascetics who conformed to the more rigid code. — The same
peculiarity is also observable of the Essenes ; a sect amongst
them, probably distinguished by the title of Therapeutae
(devotees), were remarkable for the severity of their disci-
pline, and for the lofty mysticism of their strain of comment
upon the sacred text. So that the union of mysticism with
monasticism was by no means the invention of the early
Christians, but was borrowed by them from the source to
which, as we have already seen, so many of their opinions
are to be traced. Neither can they be charged with
inventing the «/x9</3oX»a ; the Jews had long before dis-
covered the art of extracting equivocal and doubtful
meanings from the writings of the Old Testament, as
from mythic fables : — and nothing can be more evident
than that Barnabas, its originator in Christianity, had
295
found it in the school of Judaism ; though his successors
improved upon his model by still further assimilations,
through philosophy, to the heathenism whence it had at
first been derived.
The strange and absurd comments, therefore, which
we have been compelled to lay before the reader, are now
abundantly explained and accounted for. Their authors
looked upon the word of God as a mythology ; of which,
the only parts to be understood in their literal sense were
those that treated of the invisible world, of the divine
nature, character, and attributes, of the mode of the di-
vine existence,^^ and other similar topics. All the rest they
considered dark and enigmatical ; the apparent meaning be-
ing merely the veil that concealed " those allegorical senses
in which the gnostical truth delivers itself, whereby one
thing is shown and another meant;" as Clement phrases it. ^^
188 That the early fathers were orthodox upon these subjects has been
abundantly demonstrated ; I need scarcely name the elaborate Defensio
Fidei Nicoence of Bishop Bull, and the admirable treatises upon the works of
TertuUian and Justin Martyr by the bishop of Lincoln, as embodying every
thing that can be desired upon the question. It appears to me that these
were the only doctrines upon which these authors accepted aright the teach-
ing of the Scriptures. Their comments upon all texts relating to the divine
nature, are characterised by a scrupulous anxiety to give the literal unsophis-
ticated meaning of the passage : so much so, that they needlessly refine
upon it : and the later creeds will be found more accurately to define the
revealed truth upon these mysterious subjects, than the works of the Anti-
Nicene fathers ; because the former are constructed upon the scope of the
whole Bible, whereas the latter make a series of separate deductions from
the sense of particular passages. This peculiarity in the early fathers I
would thus explain : — The nature and mode of existence of divine person-
ages were precisely the subjects upon which the heathen mythologies were
supposed to speak plainly, and without figure or parable : and, therefore,
the early church forbore to equivocate or amphibolise upon them; she
expected that the sacred books should instruct her upon these points in
plain and direct language,
189 1 Strom., § 14.
296
And, therefore, he who would attain to the perfection of
Christianity must pass over the obvious import of the inspired
word, and endeavour, by the exercise of his ingenuity and
philosophy, to develope the hidden meanings. Thus then,
" they made the word of God of none effect by their tradi-
tion :" with them it was not " a light unto the feet, and a
lamp unto the path" of the believer, but a dark lanthom ;
emitting, indeed, a few glimmerings of light through a cre-
vice or two, by the help of which the vulgar and common
Christian might possibly find his way to heaven ; but these
only kindled the ardour of the aspirant after gnostical
wisdom to withdraw the slide, and to gaze upon the
splendour it concealed ; which, however, was secured by a
clasp of so rare and ingenious a device, that the most
vigorous exertions of his astuteness and philosophy were
required to unloose it.
CHAPTER XV.
PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANIl^y.
I HAVE now met with an important question which is
certainly previous to any other, in the present stage of our
enquiry. Is not every useful purpose of our investigation
already answered ?^-or are the opinions of those who have
erred to the extent of the early fathers in their mode of
interpreting the Sacred Volume, at all to be regarded upon
those portions of the Christian scheme of which they could
really know nothing but from thence ? We certainly deal
thus with writings of a more recent date. Who troubles
himself to investigate the precise shade of the Calvinism
of Jacob Behmen, or of the Sabellianism of Emmanuel
Swedenborg ? Yet both these enthusiasts were men of
respectable talent, and extensive scriptural knowledge ; we
only contemn their opinions on divinity, because of the
frantic absurdity of their ordinary mode of scriptural
comment : and I really know of nothing in either of their
works, which would not successfully dispute the palm both
for sanity and sobriety, with the a/x-^j/SoX/a of the early
fathers !
But passing by this consideration, some of the
erroneous opinions which they maintained, had a necessary
tendency to influence and bias their doctrinal deductions
from the sacred text. — Upon the all-important subject of
298
inspiration, we have seen that their opinions were very
vague and incoherent ; they held the verbal and even
literal inspiration of the Septuagint : they often appealed
to spurious and apocryphal books as to inspired authority ;
they also invariably assign a measure of this gift to the
teachers of the Greek and barbarian philosophies: and
when we add to all this, that they held that every inspired
sentence involved two meanings, the one obvious, and the
other mystical, I see not how it is possible to avoid con-
cluding a priori, that the doctrinal inferences of Theolo-
gians thus grossly erring upon vital points ought, by no
means, to be invested with any degree of authority in our
estimation ; much less are they to be followed as the guides
of our faith.
Their claims to authority have always rested upon
their proximity to the apostolic times : of these we have
already disposed ; but I will here state an opinion regard-
ing the apostolical tradition, concerning which I have onl}^
to observe, that it has been suggested to me by the perusal
of all that remains of early Christian antiquity, and that
I offer it with the utmost diffidence. It would appear that
the apostles were inspired with the truths they revealed,
under those mental aspects alone in which they have
recorded them : they were not so disclosed to their under-
standings, as that they were able also to view them under
other aspects, and declare of them from thence infallibly,
and by inspiration. So strict was the limitation, that they
seem to have varied little, if at all, upon any occasion,
even in the phraseology and diction by which they con-
veyed them, either in speaking or writing : so that had
one of the bold enquirers of these latter days into " free
will, foreknowledge, fate," been privileged to propound
his doubts and his deductions to an inspired apostle, the
299
only reply that he would have received, would probably
have been a rebuke of his impertinence, and a reference to,
or repetition of, that which is written ; the apostle
would not, because he could not, have satisfied his curi-
osity. Nothing, then, can be more erroneous than the
notion, that the doctrinal opinions of the apostolical and
early fathers are inspired glosses upon the New Testament,
handed down by tradition from the apostles ; not only do
they never assume such an authority for them, but the
tenor of their writings makes it evident that such glosses
had no existence ; and, therefore, the hearer of the apos-
tolical preaching had, in this respect, no advantage what-
ever over the reader of the apostolical epistles ; since both
would receive the same truths, and probably in the same
words.
Repeating, therefore, the inference at which we had
before arrived,^ that the early fathers had no inspired or
traditional authority for their doctrinal opinions, of which
we are not ourselves also in possession, we proceed to
to enquire, whether there is evidence in their writings that
these their errors have influenced the views they entertained
of those fundamental principles, by which their doctrinal
deductions would necessarily be determined.
We will take the much tossed question regarding
the Freedom of the Will ; upon which there will be no
necessity that we should disturb any point in discussion
between the Calvinist and the Arminian : the doctrine of
the chvirch upon it in the second century, being utterly
valueless in that controversy, and not possessed of the
weight even of a feather in either scale ; inasmuch as it is
not derived from the Bible at all, nor was any such origi-
nation pretended for it by its supporters. This interminable
1 See Chapters II. and III.
300
controversy was as fiercely debated between the Stoics and
the Platonists in the schools of Athens during the second
century, as between the Calvinists and Arminians at the
synod of Dort in the seventeenth. The philosophers of
the Porch asserted that all things came to pass by the
decrees of fate ; of a stern iron necessity which exercised
as invincible a control over the volitions of the human
mind, as over the motions of the heavenly bodies. This
was vehemently denied by the rival philosophy of the
Grove, which asserted the entire and perfect free agency
of man. At the time we are considering, the Halls of
Philosophy had rung with these wranglings for a long
period ; and there were evident symptoms that the combat
would speedily terminate, in the rapid decline of the stoical
doctrines, and the triumphant advance of those of the
Platonists.
But the circumstance that of all others most power-
fully contributed to the establishment of the Platonic
theory regarding the freedom of the will, in the Christianity
of the second century, was the conversion of Justin the
philosopher. This event probably took place at a period,
when not many of the same standing and pretensions in
literature had embraced the tenets of the then despised
and persecuted sect of the Christians : and it is pretty
certain, that Justin was the first of the rank of a philo-
sopher who set the seal of martyrdom to the sincerity
of his profession. These incidents conferred upon his
writings an astonishing degree of authority and influence
with his cotemporaries and successors, for which we should
scarcely find any thing to account, in the intrinsic merits of
those of them that remain. But Justin had been a rigid
disciple of Plato : he informs us that it was from hence
that he passed into the school of Christ ; and the tenor of
301
his narrative would make it appear that the transition was
not a very difficult one : ^ for his Christianity was so
framed as to include the whole of his Platonism, which he
grasped as firmly and retained as jealously as his philoso-
pher's cloak : ^ and if there was any one tenet of that
philosophy to which he clung more firmly than another, it
was that of the to auVe^oyViov, the unlimited freedom of the
will of angels aud of men. There is a passage in his
second apology which goes far to account for this : he
speaks of the doctrine of the Stoics regarding necessity,
with a warmth and bitterness which certainly implies that
he had controverted that question with them, long before
his conversion to Christianity. * This hostility was the
immediate cause of his death ; the information upon which
he was brought before the Emperor Marcus Antoninus,
(when he delivered his second Apology) was laid by one
Crescens a Stoic, whose licentious life sufficiently evinced
the abominable nature of the doctrines he maintained ; and
it was upon this occasion that, according to Eusebius, he
suffered martyrdom. ^ The wretch took this mode of
revenging himself on Justin for a defeat which he had
sustained from him in a public disputation ; and I cannot
2 Dial., pp. 223—225.
3 Id., p. 217 C. He frequently quotes the writings of Plato, Apol. I.,
pp. 81 C, &c.
4 P. 45 D. See also Dial., p. 318 D., where he says that the Stoics
knew nothing of God, and taught that such knowledge was unnecessary :
and it is not impossible but that some individual among them may have
covered his own ignorance by returning such an answer to an enquirer.
But I must 'observe upon it, that no sect of philosophy speculated so boldly
and so freely upon the divine nature as the Stoics: and, also, that no
imputation was so likely to cast a contemptuous reproach upon any mode
of philosophising in the second century, as such an answer to a question
then so universally popular and under discussion as that, de natura Deorum.
5 Eccl. Hist., lib. 4.
302
help thinking that they had often before been antagonists. ^
This, in my judgment, is the true reason of Justin's very
decided opinions regarding the freedom of the will ; it was
a subject in which his feelings were already warmly inte-
rested, when he embraced Christianity ; and upon which
he was most probably fully committed in the schools. It
is on this account that he never once quotes scripture autho-
rity for the doctrine, nor does he even cite that or any
thing else in proof of it, but he invariably assumes it as
an axiom antecedent to all proof.^
Thus, the example and authority of Justin combined
with other circumstances to identify this tenet of Platon-
ism with Christianity, in the divinity of the second cen-
tury.
Irenaeus dogmatises upon the entire freedom of the
will in the same style as his predecessor :^ and also endea-
vours to establish it from Scripture. His mode of proof
is sufficiently comprehensive: every hortative passage in
the Sacred Volume which addresses man as a rational and
accountable being, he conceives to be unanswerable
demonstration of his unlimited free agency. Nor does he
at all scruple to carry the doctrine out to all the conse-
quences of which it is capable. Man is the author of his
6 Though the occasion will excuse almost any thing, it is, nevertheless,
to be regretted, that Justin should have been betrayed in the intemperate
language he uses regarding this man ; he terms him o (piXoypo^os xcci ^tko-
mo/A^res i ya-f (ptXofe(pev tivrriv &^ov <roi> avipet, p. 46 D., shortly afterwards he
applies to him the epithet xwixos, p. 47 C, evidently not in its conventional,
but in its literal sense ; in the former it merely denotes a professor of the
Cynical philosophy (the earliest form of Stoicism) ; but in the latter, it is an
opprobrious nickname, the meaning of which will be best conveyed to the
English reader by translating it, Dog^s-face.
7 Apol. I., pp. 58 C, 71 B., 80 D. Apol. II, ubi supra. Dial.,
pp. 316 A., 329 A., &c.
8 Adv. Haer., lib. 4. cc. 7, 29, 71, 76, &c.
303
own faith ;^ he accomplishes at the first his own election,
and he achieves at the last his own salvation !^^
Tertullian did not allow his own antipathy to philo-
sophy to prevent him, either embracing the doctrine of
Plato, or availing himself of the argument by which that
philosopher supported it. He contends at great length
for the freedom of the human will, on the ground that
without it there can be no human responsibility :^^ which
is the Platonic argument.^^
Regarding Clement of Alexandria I would observe,
that I suspect there was some hypocricy in the pompous
9 c. 72.
10 Ubi supra.
11 Adv. Marcion., lib. 2. cc. 5— >9. ; also c. 27> It is an argument to
show that the fall of man neither proved that the Creator was a wicked spi-
rit, nor that he was ignorant of the future, as had been impiously asserted
by his opponent. His commencing sentence is a highly characteristic one :
— " Jam hinc ad quaestiones omnes canes quos foras Apostolus expellit,
latrantes in deum veritatis — Haec sunt argumentationum ossa quae obrO'
ditis;' c. 6.
12 Plato was hampered in this question, with human responsibility on
the one hand, and on the other, with the notion of destiny, which then
formed so important an article of the popular belief. The mode in which
he reconciles the difficulty is beautifully ingenious. He teaches that destiny
exerts no direct control over the course of human action, but acts as a law
connecting events in the relation of cause and effect. He thus illustrates
it : — the rape of Helen was not predestinated ; but it was decreed that if
that event took place, the destruction of Troy should follow. His Christian
admirers and imitators had also to deal with another jarring element in the
question, that of the goodness of God ; but their escape from the difficulty
was by no means equally felicitous. Since those times, seventeen hundred
years of bitter experience have taught the church of Christ an apparently
simple and obvious principle, which completely forestalls this and all simi-
lar inquiries. She has very recently discovered that where the premises are
matters so entirely out of the sphere of human cognizance as man's respon-
sibility and God's sovereignty, the conclusion is to be sought, not in the
deductions of the human understanding, but in the declarations of the word
of God.
304
boast of eclection, with which he commences the Stromates :
the tenor of this work abundantly evidences that its author
was a Platonist in the strictest sense of the word. We
have already stated that he claims a considerable measure
of inspired authority for philosophy, which he considers to
have been imparted to the Greeks for the same purpose as
the Old Testament to the Jews.^^ We have also noticed
that one of the sources from which it derived a measure of
divine truth was the writings of Moses. ^'^ The reasons by
which he supports this opinion, are such as might have
been anticipated in behalf of a notion so utterly devoid of
foundation in probability. One of his modes of proof is
by the amphibolical interpretation of Scripture. Thus, he
interprets the expression, " all that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers,*"^^ not of the false Christs, of whom
so many made their appearance about the time of our
Saviour's coming, but of the Greek philosophy, which was
not sent from God, but came from him surreptitiously and
by stealth. God was, of course, not ignorant of this,
though he did not prevent it, but so directed the course of
events as to make it subservient to the purposes of his
providence."^ He finds another proof in the occasional
13 See above, p. 33.
14 See above, p. 55, Note 109. This notion originated with Justin,
Apol. I., pp. 81 D., 92 C.
15 John X. 8.
16 1 Strom., § 17. In the same passage he uses expressions which
would seem to imply, that this revelation had been made to the Gentiles
through the agency of some power or angel, who knew the truth and con-
tinued not in it : the inspiration of the Greek philosophy, and the direction
of its professors to the writings of Moses, being the offence in which his fall
consisted. We have already seen that there was nothing in the theology of
those times to exclude either three or any greater number of angelic defec-
tions. See also, 6 Strom., § 8, 17> where he argues that philosophy may
not be evil in itself, even though the Devil inspired it.
305
adoption of expressions from the Greek poets by St. Paul.
But his main argument is to show that the early Greeks
must have been acquainted with the writings of Moses and
the prophets ; and that from thence they derived know-
ledge of every description, as well as philosophy. To the
former, especially, they were indebted for the regal, legis-
latorial, and military wisdom which their history so
largely evidences.^^ His proof that Moses taught the
Greeks the art of war is not a very convincing one : he
asserts that the strategics of Miltiades at the battle of
Marathon, were entirely derived from the Mosaic account
of the Exodus !i»
But of all the Grecian sages and philosophers, there
was no one who had borrowed so extensively from Moses,
and drunk so entirely into his spirit, as Plato. He styles
him " the Hebraizing Philosopher ;'"^^ yea, " Mose^
Atticising f^^ and often prefaces the quotations from his
works, which abound throughout the Stromates, with
remarks, calling to mind the high authority to which the
opinions of Plato are entitled on this account.^^ It is
scarcely needful to add, that Clement of Alexandria
enforces the freedom of the will to the full extent in
17 1 Strom., § 22—26.
18 § 24.
19 i% Bfipatuv <piXotro^os Tlkdruv. 1 Strom., § 1.
20 Maertis arrizl^Mv. Id., § 22. ; that is, Moses in an Attic dress,
writing according to the taste of Attica ; he has borrowed this piece of
flippant foppery from Numenius, a Hellenising Jew.
21 1 Strom., § 25. ; 5 Strom., § 14., &c. He gives only one or two
instances of this resemblance between Moses and Plato, upon which he
insists so largely ; they are so ridiculously trivial, that they would not at all
repay the trouble of the long explanation which would be required to make
them intelligible. 1 Strom., § 1, 24. ; 5 Strom., § 1, 14, &c.
X
306
which it was maintained by the Platonists,^ and frequently
upholds his opinion, by the express sanction and authority
of passages from the works of Plato.^^
We are now saved the trouble of all further investi-
gation : the opinions of the early fathers upon free-will, we
have traced in an unbroken line of descent from Justin,
the Platonist, down to Clement, one of the founders of the
school of the New Platonics ; and we have found that
none of them appeal to any authority in support of their
doctrine, but that of Plato ; and that they only attempt to
countenance it from Scripture by citing passages in which
men are addressed as rational and responsible agents:
which is, of course, to beg the entire question, if there be
one, between Plato and the Bible.
If, then, the ultimate appeal upon this most momen-
tous question is to be made to the Scriptures, nothing can
be more certain, than that the opinions of the fathers of the
second century are utterly unimportant and valueless in
the controversy ; since they only prove that Plato main-
tained the entire freedom of the will : — a fact with which
we were already acquainted, upon the more unexceptionable
authority of his own extant works.
What would be the fate, with these writers, of the
portion of the Christian scheme which depends upon the
solution of this question, and which, since the Reforma-
tion, has been comprehended under the technical expression
doctrines of Grace, it is not very difficult to divine. The
large and liberal canon of scriptural interpretation then in
use, or, in a case of emergency, the timely aid of the
«ju,^»/3oXta, could scarcely fail to remove all impediments
22 1 Strom., § 17, 18.; 2 Strom., § 4, 6, 12, 13. ; 3 Strom., § 6.;
4 Strom., § 24. ; 5 Strom., § 3, 12, 14. ; 7 Strom., § 2.
23 5 Strom., § 14., &c.
307
from this quarter, to a system of divinity in entire harmony
with the Platonic principle. And such is certainly the
fact of the case. Upon these points, the Bible is only
quoted to be disregarded, or explained away where it
seems to oppose the doctrine to be proved : it is perfectly
powerless against this their prepossession. If we are saved
by faith alone,^* faith is merely that assent of the under-
standing, which, by the express doctrine of both the Stoics
and Platonists, is in our own power .^^ If the grace of God
be needed at all, beyond the ordinary grace of baptism, it
is only for those whose ambition, and whose nerve, have
prompted and enabled them to climb to perilous elevations
on the giddy eminences of gnosticism^^ and martyrdom.^
If there be any thing like depravity in human nature, it
is that which, it is entirely within the power of the will to
rectify ; nor does it, in any one of the fathers of the second
century, overstep the dimensions which the academic philo-
sophy had assigned to it ; namely, that man has a pure
soul dwelling in an impure body.^^ We may, indeed, in
our anxiety to apologise for the early representatives of the
24 M/a xaB-oXiKvi rrii avB-puToryiros <rur*ipicc, vWi?. — Clem. Alex., Paed.
lib. 1. c. 6.
25 Irenaeus, ubi supra, Clem. Alex. 2 Strom., § 12. ; in the same book
he speaks of T»iv iKouffiov -x'i^tv^ § 2. ; he also terms faith, ri^vn (pv<rtx.rty
in the sixth section, which is an argument to prove that it is a voluntary
act of the understanding, and only to be called divine on account of its
excellent nature and properties: he uses the same argument § 11. See
also 5 Strom., § 13.
26 5 Strom., § 12, 13.
27 See above, p. 218.
28 Tertullian de Anima. c. 41. Clem. Alex., 2 Strom., § 3. ; 4 Strom.,
§ 3. ; 5 Strom., § 1., &c. It was this notion which gave rise to the error of
the Basilideans and Marcionites, that the soul was created by a good god,
and the body by an evil one. See the last section of the 4th book.
308
visible church, cite passages from the works of Justin,^
which apparently give some degree of countenance to these
doctrines ; but though I readily acknowledge that more of
this phraseology will be found there than in the writings
of his successors, yet I cannot help fearing that they will
not admit of an orthodox interpretation, without doing
considerable violence to the entire scope of the author''s
meaning. And I feel compelled to state, unhesitatingly,
that upon this part of the great question between God and
man, which constitutes religion, the fathers of the second
century were the disciples, not of Christ, but of Plato : —
nor are the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel to be found
in their works, and for this most obvious reason, because
they did not maintain them.
We have no difficulty in accounting for this circum-
stance. Their mode of interpretation has already shown us
that they regarded the Bible in the light of a mythology ;
revealing certain truths regarding the divine nature and
worship, but concealing, under the semblance of moral
maxims, twisted together in amphibologies, or enshrined
in allegorical histories, the elemental germs of an ethical
system, which it was the province of philosophy to
develope. And to what philosophy could they so naturally
apply for this assistance, as to that from whence the proto-
martyr of this phase of Christianity had stepped into the
new religion ; which had already been applied as the
solvent of the Mosaic dispensation by the Hellenising
Jews ; and the intellectual beauties of which project the
shadow of an apology for those who have denominated its
founder, the divine Plato ?
As the rule which we have hitherto invariably fol-
29 See the bishop of Lincoln^s Justin., pp. 74—78. ; also Milner*«
Church History, Vol. I.
309
lowed, of endeavouring to point out wherein the error we
have to expose consists, is at this advanced stage of our
enquiry necessarily made absolute, it gives me the most
sincere pleasure to be able to state, that my view of the
question of free-will pretends to nothing new or original ;
but, on the other hand, is now so generally entertained,
that a very brief notice of it will suffice. It appears to
me, that whichever part we take in this controversy, we
are ultimately thrown upon insuperable difficulties. We
soon refute the Calvinist, as we imagine, upon the imputed
injustice of unconditional election and reprobation, or pre-
terition. But does he not turn our own argument against
us, and with exactly equal force, in the next step of the
enquiry, upon the imputed injustice of the original permis-
sion of evil ? As this is, notwithstanding, a subject on
which it is plainly needful that man should know some-
thing, here is a strong case in favor of a revelation. That
revelation has been imparted, and its purport is entirely
embodied in the following passage : — " Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling : for it is God that
worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good
pleasure.""^ I readily grant that here is no solution of the
metaphysical difficulty ; but, nevertheless, every ethical
purpose for which such knowledge was required is abun-
dantly answered by it. Here is a rule, so regulating the
faith of the devout enquirer, that receiving the whole of
that it hath pleased God to disclose to him upon these
mysterious subjects, he ascribes all " to the praise of the
glory of his grace," from the first movement of conviction
in his heart, to that blessed manifestation of the divine
presence, which (as his hope is) shall at the last enable
him '^ to walk through the valley of the shadow of deatli,
30 Phil. ii. 12, 13.
310
and fear no evil ;"'' yet, at the same time, so directing the
practical bearing of the question regarding the will, that
he shall be constrained to labour as anxiously, as earnestly,
and as perseveringly, " to adorn the doctrine of God his
Saviour in all things," as though the whole work of his
salvation depended upon himself. This is the purpose for
which the revelation was imparted, and it will answer no
other : for the Bible was not intended to make men meta-
physicians, but Christians; and, therefore, it leaves the
question between the Stoics and the Platonists exactly
where it found it.
Our task then is accomplished ; we have ascertained
that, almost from the moment they issued from the hallowed
lips of the apostles, the doctrines of Christianity suffered
by amalgamation with the prepossessions of their Gentile
hearers. Their immediate disciples and cotemporaries did
indeed retain perfectly those of them which form the
distinguishing features, the peculiar characteristics, of
Christ's religion, though, upon many other points, they
erred grievously : but even these soon disappear from the
writings of their successors ; and nothing of Christianity
remains in them, beyond the facts recorded in the Bible.
All the rest is a mash of Platonism and heathenism.
If, then, it be objected to the peculiar doctrines of
the Gospel, that they were unknown, or disregarded, at so
early a period as the second century, we appeal at once
from the fathers of that era to their immediate prede-
cessors. We will convey the view of Christianity for
which we contend, in the words of the apostolical fathers ;
for in no uninspired language can they be more perfectly,
or more beautifully embodied. " God glorified his saints
of old,"" says St. Clement, " not for their own sake, or for
their own works, or for the righteousness that they them-
311
selves wrought, but through his will. And we also being
called by the same will in Jesus Christ, are not justified
by ourselves, neither by our own wisdom, or knowledge,
or piety, or the works which we have done in holiness of
heart : but by that faith by which God Almighty has
justified all men from the beginning: to whom be glory
for ever and ever. — Amen. What shall we do, therefore,
brethren ? shall we be slothful in well-doing, and lay aside
our love ? May God keep us, that such things be not
wrought in us ! But rather let us give all diligence, that
with earnestness and readiness of mind we may perfect
every good work."*"*^^ In another place of the same epistle
the following passage occurs : — " How excellent, beloved,
are the gifts of God. Life in immortality ! glory in
righteousness ! truth in confidence !^^ faith in full assu-
rance ! continence in holiness ! All these are comprehen-
sible to us. But what shall those things be which he hath
prepared for them that wait for him ? The Creator, the
Everlasting Father, the All-Holy ; he only knows their
greatness and their beauty. Let us then agonise, that we
may be found among the number of those that abide in
him, that we may be made partakers of the free-gifts he
hath promised. But how shall this be, beloved ? If,
having our minds confirmed in faith towards God, we
seek those things which are pleasing and acceptable unto
him ; fulfilling that which is agreeable to his holy will ;
31 I ad Cor. cc. 32, 33.
32 uXi^S-ua, iv ^rappnaria, literally " truth with freedom from doubt ;" so
Clement of Alexandria, akkus rts ^ip) akfiB-tiecs kiyn, akkus h akri^nx
iavrhv ipfAtiVivW 'irtpov ?o^aff/jt,os aktiB-iias^ 'inpov h akvSsia' &kk oofioiaxriit eikko
auro TO ov. 1 Strom., § 7' To perceive the force and beauty of these allu-
sions, we must call to mind the doubts and perplexities regarding religion^
and the state after death, from which Christianity liberated its early
converts.
312^
and following the way of truth, we cast off from us all
unrighteousness and iniquity. This is the way, beloved,
wherein we find our salvation, even Jesus Christ, the high-
priest of all our offerings, the support and help of our
infirmities ; by (faith in) him we gaze upon his pure and
most exalted countenance, and behold therein, as in a
glass, the heights of the heavenly felicities.^ By him are
the eyes of our hearts opened ; by him our foolish and
darkened understandings rejoice to behold his marvellous
light.^'^ This is the Christianity for which we contend ;
these are the doctrines which our Saviour and his apostles
taught, and of which scarcely a trace is to be found in the
fathers of the second century.
Nor is St. Clement the only witness to the correctness
of our deduction, that such is the religion of the New
Testament. The misguided, and not very wise, author of
the epistle of St. Barnabas, was also thoroughly indoctri-
nated in the same blessed truths. In addition to the
quotations from thence upon which we have already
remarked, we give the following passage, which is cer-
tainly inferior in point of diction to those from St.
Clement, though it enforces the same doctrines, and with
equal zeal and fervour. It commences with a reproof of
the folly of the Jews who had put their trust in the
temple at Jerusalem ; in the mere house, and not in the
God who created the builders thereof. Through their
fightings and violences, that temple had been just razed to
the ground by their enemies. But was God, therefore, to
33. Such I imagine to have been the writer's meaning ; it is evidently
an allusion to 2 Cor. iii. 18.. There would appear to be an error of
transcription in this sentence in the original ; the sense is scarcely
intelligible.
■* Idem. cc. 35, 36.
313
remain without a temple in the earth ? He quotes certain
passages from the prophets which, as he supposes, prove
that another temple was to be erected, and thus explains
them : — " Before that we believed in God, the habi-
tation of our heart was frail and corruptible, even as
a temple merely built with hands. For it was a house
full of idolatry, a house of demons ; inasmuch as there
was done in it whatsoever was contrary unto God. By
what means shall a house like this be gloriously rebuilt in
the name of the Lord ? I will tell you. Having
received remission of our sins through faith in the name
of the Lord, we are made anew^ being created as it were
from the beginning. Then God truly dwells in our house,
that is, in us. But how does he dwell in us ? By the
word of his faith, by the calling of his promise, by the
wisdom of his righteous judgments, by the commands of
his doctrine ; he himself speaks within us, he himself
dwelleth in us, and openeth to us who were in bondage of
death, the gate of our temple, that is the mouth of wisdom,
having given repentance unto us. By this means he hath
made us an indestructible temple. He then that desireth
to be saved must not look for help to man, but to him
that dwelleth in his servants, and speaketh by them.
This is the spiritual temple that is built unto the Lord."^
We could not have more satisfactory evidence than is
aiForded by these quotations, that the doctrines of grace
were maintained and taught by the companions of the
inspired apostles.
Let us now turn to the writings of those that
represent to us the Christian church in the succeeding
generation, and who had, in their early youth, been the
hearers of the apostles. From the epistles of Ignatius
3J Barn. Epis., c. 16.
314
and Polycarp, I feel compelled to give extracts of this
character, at the risk of repeating that which is already
familiar to the religious literature of the day, because, were
the reader to form his judgment of either of these eminent
servants of God, upon the quotations that have hitherto
been given from the former, he would arrive at a very
unjust and false conclusion regarding them. Ignatius
thus addresses the Ephesians : — " Nothing shall be hidden
from you if ye have perfect faith and love to Jesus Christ,
which is the beginning and the end of life. For the
beginning is faith, and the end is love, and these two
joined together are of God; and all other things that
concern a holy life are the effects of these. No man
professing a true faith sinneth ; neither does he who hath
love hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit : so
they who profess themselves Christians are to be judged by
what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an
outward profession ; but the power of faith enduring unto
the end."^ This is " the faith once delivered to the
saints'" in perfect purity. Nor is there a single allusion to
these subjects throughout his epistles which is not in
harmony with it. With all his errors, therefore, Ignatius
declared to the visible church the truth of God, untainted
by the leaven of heathen philosophy, at the commencement
of the second century.
I have already expressed my admiration of the epistle
of St. Polycarp to the Philippians, which was written at
the time of the martyrdom of Ignatius, and, therefore,
immediately after his epistles, though the pious author
long survived him ; and according to the tradition of the
church,^ suffered in the persecution of Antoninus Pius,
and about the same time as Justin. The beauty of this
36 Ignatius ad Eph., c. 14. 37 Eus. Eccl. Hist, lib. 4.
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production consists altogether in its close adherence to tuc^, ^ Jv
spirit of the New Testament. Here are no displays of{{^ix\. ^'
learning, no flights of rhetoric, no bold essays to assume
the tone and style of inspiration. The chastened and
humble mind of its author had no other ambition than to
sit at the feet of the apostles, and to write to the church
at Philippi, not as they wrote, but that which they
delivered ; and, therefore, he did not disdain frequently to
adopt their own language. Many other proofs of the same
blessed frame and temper are to be found in it, some of
which I cannot refrain from laying before the reader.
Ignatius and others had shortly before passed through
Smyrna bound, condemned by the irreversible decree of
the emperor, on their way to Rome, the place of their
martyrdom, and rejoicing that they were counted worthy
to suff'er for the name of the Lord. We can find no scrip-
ture sanction for their mode of rejoicing, and, therefore,
can bestow no commendation upon it. But though the
entire church of Christ was, as we have seen, carried away
by the force of an example so illustrious as that of Igna-
tius, the deep humility with which Poly carp was invested,
seems effectually to have defended him from their specious
and seductive error. I gather this from the following
passage : — " Brethren, watch unto prayer, and strengthen
yourselves therein with fasting : with supplication beseech-
ing the all-seeing God not to lead us into temptation ; for
the Lord himself hath said, ' the Spirit is willing but the
flesh is weak."* Let us, therefore, without ceasing, hold
unto him who is our hope and the pledge of our righteous-
ness, even Jesus Christ : ' Who his own self bare our sins
in his own body on the tree :"* ' who did no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth :' but suff*ered all for us that we
might live through him. Let us, therefore, imitate his
316
patience : and if we suffer for his name, let us glorify
him ; for this example he himself hath set before us, that
believing in him we might follow it. Wherefore, I exhort
all of you, that obeying the word of his righteousness, ye
exercise yourselves unto all the patience which ye your-
selves have beheld, not only in the blessed Ignatius, and
Zozimus, and Rufus, but in Paul also, and the rest of the
apostles ; being confident of this, that all these have not
run in vain, but in faith and righteousness ; and are gone
to the place which was prepared for them of the Lord,
with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this
present world ; but him who died and was raised again by
God for us."*^
The meek and lowly spirit of this passage contrasts
very beautifully with the lofty assuming tone of Ignatius.
While he is courting persecution, eager for the crown of
martyrdom, forbidding his friends from preventing him
of it by supplication to God or man, writing boastful
letters to various churches, calling upon them to observe
his zeal for his master, and, to the utmost of his power,
making his progress towards martyrdom a triumphal pro-
cession of which he was himself the hero; his humbler
friend and brother in the Lord, Polycarp, who was
exposed to the same danger, and, doubtless, expected every
hour to be in the same condition, is fervently praying not
to be led into temptation, bemoaning his own weakness
and inability to endure the fiery trial, and staying himself,
in the exercise of faith, upon Jesus Christ and him cruci-
fied, and upon him alone.
The prudent and guarded manner also, in which,
while speaking of Ignatius and his companions with all
the affection and respect he so evidently felt for them, he,
•'« Poly, ad Philip, cc. 8, 0.
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317
at the same time, gently draws ofF his readers from the
then very recent event of their martyrdom, to the contem-
plation of the soberer and safer examples of our Lord and
his apostles, is greatly to be commended.
If any reliance whatever is to be placed upon the
highly embellished account of this holy man's martyrdom,
preserved by Eusebius, the God who had begun a good
work in him also perfected it in the day of trial. For
while Ignatius, upon the same authority, rushed into the
presence of the emperor Trajan to avow himself a Chris-
tian, Polycarp gave better evidence of his fitness to glorify
his Lord in the flames of martyrdom, by exactly fulfilling
his commandments. " When they persecuted him in one
city, he," in obedience thereto, " fled to another :" though
at the last, no one in the annals of the church professed the
faith of Christ more nobly, or submitted to his tormentors
more cheerfully than St. Poly carp.. ^^
39 Eusebius, lib. 4. With respect to miraculous martyrdoms, I may
perhaps be permitted to observe that I have read too many of such narra-
tives not to feel the utmost hesitation in giving credence to them. It vras
not the occasion upon which miraculous interference ordinarily took place ;
and when it was exerted at all, the interposition was invariably an effectual
one ; as in the cases of Daniel, of the three Holy Children, and of St. Peter.
I, therefore, hold it to be incredible that, by a miraculous agency, the flames
should enshrine the person of Polycarp w^ithout injuring it, swelling from
him on all sides like the distended sails of a ship, and yet that the confector
should be allowed to dispatch him : for when God will work, who shall let
it ? Had the divine energy been there, doubtless it would also have
unnerved the executioner's arm, or rendered innocuous the point of his
lance. If we are to include narrations like these among the verities of
Christianity, with what show of reason can we reject the fables of the mar-
tyrologists under the Dioclesian persecution, not more than a hundred years
after ; as for instance, of the Egyptian saint Apa Til, who, according to an
eye-witness^ suffered martyrdom, after being cut to pieces ten times in the
course of as many days, by the tyrant Maximin, and every night put toge-
ther again by the archangel Gabriel ? See Georgi. Acta S. Coluthii.
318
There is another evidence of the depth and sincerity
of St. Poly carp's humility, which has occurred to me as
even still more remarkable. He had just before received
the highest honour that Christianity could confer upon
him. While all the churches of Asia were contending for
the privilege of a missive from Ignatius on his way to
martyrdom, and deemed them sufficiently important to
dispatch special messengers for the purpose of obtaining
them, that eminent personage not only wrote an epistle to
Smyrna, the church over which he presided, but also
addressed one of the same public character to Polycarp
himself ; wherein he commends his Christian graces in the
following terms : — " Having known that thy mind towards
God is fixed, as it were, upon an immoveable rock, I
exceedingly give thanks that I have been counted worthy
to behold thy guileless countenance, wherein may I always
rejoice in God :" he also exhorts him " by the grace of
God, with which he is clothed, to press forward in his
course f nay, he points him out as a chosen and appointed
instrument whereby great good was to be accomplished to
the church.'*^ '' We look unto thee in these times, even as
the ship that is tossed in a tempest to the haven of rest :*"
and the purpose of his address is to commission Polycarp
to answer some of the many churches who had applied for
epistles from Ignatius, but which his guard prevented him
from sending, by suddenly determining to sail from
Troas.'^^ It is not easy to conceive of a severer test for the
humility of any man, than the praise to this extent, from
him whom all were praising : for whatever may be asserted
to the contrary, Christianity, in its highest style, was not
intended to annihilate, either the proper love of approbation,
or any other generous and exalting sentiment of which our
40 Ign. ad Polyc. cc. 1, 2. 41 idem., c. 8.
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319
nature is capable: but even from this trial the humble
spirit of Poly carp came forth unblemished. In addition
to the proofs of this we have already given, it is not in
words to express more unfeigned humility than the conclu-
sion of his opening address to the Philippians : — " These
things concerning righteousness, my brethren, I should not
have taken the liberty of myself to write unto you, had not
you yourselves before encouraged me to it.""^^ And we
find in another passage,''^ that full of the same blessed
spirit, this was the only pastoral letter he presumed to
indite. He complied with the last request of Ignatius,
by transmitting to the churches which had applied for
missives, copies of all the epistles he wrote before his
departure from Troas.
In what but the pure doctrines of the New Testa-
ment, could this beautiful exemplification of the spirit
of Christianity have originated .^^ Upon the subjects we
are now considering, they dwelt in the heart of St.
Poly carp un defiled with the slightest admixture of error.
We require no other evidence of this than the passage
with which his epistle commences. " Polycarp and the
presbyters that are with him in the church of God,
which is at Philippi : mercy unto you, and peace from
God Almighty, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour,
be multiplied. I rejoiced greatly with you in the Lord
Jesus Christ, that the root of the faith which was preached
from the beginning remains firm in you, and brings forth
fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered himself to be
brought even to the death for our sins. ' Whom God
hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death.' ' Whom
having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
42 C. 3. 43 C. 13.
sao
of glory,' into which ye earnestly desire to enter ; knowing
that by grace ye are saved ; not by works, but by the will
of God through Jesus Christ/'^*
Whatever errors, then, were introduced into Chris-
tianity by the apostolical fathers, it is perfectly evident,
that upon the doctrines of grace, the written and unwritten
traditions of the church were, in their times, in perfect
harmony. Both taught plainly and unequivocally, that
there was none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved, but only the name of Christ :
according to both creeds, man through the depravity and
moral corruption of his nature, had no power of himself to
help himself, nor was there any other help for him, save
the special grace of God in Jesus Christ. And as the
apostolical fathers are not one whit behind the apostles in
enforcing upon the consciences of Christians, all the details
of a holy life, as the fruit and only evidence of that saving
faith which God works in the hearts of his people, so
neither do they at all come short of them in earnestly
disclaiming the efficacy of good works, as the meritorious
and procuring causes of our salvation, and ascribing it
altogether to the undeserved grace of God.'^^
We have already pointed to the Platonism of Justin
as the first apparent cause of the disturbance of this har-
mony. We have also remarked upon the rapidity with
which, through the force of his example, and through the
popularity of the Platonic philosophy in the second century,
the opinions of Plato, and the doctrines of the New
44 Polyc.ad Phil., c 1.
45 It will be observed, that the office of the Holy Spirit is not assigned
in these extracts from the apostolical fathers. It may be given as a further
proof, that the early church did, in some sort, confound the second and third
persons of the Trinity. To this subject we have already frequently
alluded.
9^
Testament, were then identified, as far as the historical
facts of the latter admitted of such a process. The
atonement of Christ they certainly taught to be the
ground of their hope of salvation ; but beyond this, it
seems to have remained altogether in abeyance in their
system of divinity ; it acted no part therein ; it was
denuded of all practical bearing : the writers of this
period can treat of the subject to which, of all others,
it would seem the most indispensible, that of the for-
giveness of sins, as though no such doctrine were in
existence : never once alluding either to the atonement,
or to the necessity of faith in it."^ They also mistook
both the extent and nature of its efficacy ; they taught
that the blood of the martyr washed away his own sin,
and, in some sense, the sins of others also i"*^ it was
likewise their opinion, that its purifying efficacy con-
sisted in certain hidden virtues, residing in the cross
and names of Christ,'^ rather than in his merits. With
regard to all the peculiar doctrines, they manifested more
anxiety to square their Christianity with their Platonism,
than their Platonism with their Christianity. In utter
disregard of the Bible, they maintained the boundless free-
agency of man, as it was taught by the academics. They
admitted the corruption of human nature only in the extent
to which Plato admitted it. They totally deprived the
grace of God of speciality ; they interpreted all scrip-
tural allusions to it, of those extended and general senses
in which all things may be ultimately referred to God as
to the First Cause i"^ if any thing more than this was
46 Supra., p. 120., e. s.
47 Page 224., &c.
48 Page 261., &c.
49 Justin. Dial., p. 280 B., &c. &c. ; so Irenseus defines grace to be,
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322
given or required in any case, it was only upon great and
special occasions, as at baptism, or martyrdom ; and even
then, it acted merely by the suggestion of good thoughts
and emotions, after the manner of the demon of Socrates.^^
It was inevitable to such a scheme, that a large measure
of value and efficacy should be ascribed to good works.
We have already laid before the reader their opinions of
the power and prevalence with God of fasting, and the
other ceremonies of religion ; and that they would assign
the same value to the fulfilment of the moral law of the
" consilium bonum omnibus a Deo datum.," lib. 4. c. 71- And it certainly
occurs to me that TertuUian generally means nothing more than this, when
he speaks of the grace of God. (See de Anima. c. 21., adv. Marc, lib. 2.
c. 5 — 8.) See also above, p. 120., the doctrine of Hermas.
50 " The divinely imparted wisdom, which is the power of the Father,
excites our free will." — CI. Alex., 5 Strom., § 13. In the same passage he
interprets the expression " I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh,"
Joel ii. 28., of the Spirit that is in all of us, not as a part of God, but pro-
bably merely as an emanation from him at the first. He evidently means to
say, that there is no promise of divine assistance in the passage, beyond the
presentation of some good suggestion to the free-will of man. What Cle-
ment intended by this spirit in man, he proposed to explain in his work on
the soul, which has not come down to us. Tatian, however, supplies this
deficiency. He informs us that our first parents were created with two
spirits, or souls ; the one material, the other immaterial, and emanating
from God. All their offspring are also similarly created; they have an
earthy and an heavenly spirit. But when Adam and Eve sinned, the latter
quitted the former, because it refused to obey its suggestions, and returned
to heaven. In this situation also are all their descendants ; they have a
material soul within them, and an immaterial soul, or in Platonic language,
a demon, in heaven. The material soul, however, has a spark of the divine
nature still in it ; and is able, by the exercise of its free-will, to exalt itself
above the earthy taint it had contracted, so as to be fitted for receiving
the suggestions of its immaterial counterpart, without which it can never
attain the knowledge of heavenly things. — Contra Gracos., pp. 150 — 153.
I strongly suspect that this rhapsody embodies the universal belief, in the
aecond century, on the subject of divine grace.
New Testament, is a corollary too self-evident to require
that we should work it out.
This was the doctrinal religion of the fathers of the
second century. If the tradition, either of the apostles,
K or the apostolical fathers, is to be received, it was not
I Christianity. If the works of Plato, and their own con-
H stant admissions are to be regarded, it was Platonism.
CHAPTER XVI
CONCLUSION.
We conclude with a brief resumption of the course of rea-
soning with which we commenced. From the well-known
fact, that the older dispensations of God were preparing
mankind for that of the New Testament, we there inferred
that when its divine origin was once demonstrated, this
last was broadly distinguished from them by a mark of
completion, or perfection, in which they were deficient ;
consisting in the absence of all necessity for further mira-
culous interference. Now the new circumstances in which
the relations between God and man were hereby placed,
evidently point out the commencement of a new epoch in
the divine economy ; differing, in this particular (amongst
others) from those that had preceded it. Miracles were
no longer to be employed for the purpose of coercing
the assent of the human understanding, through the
evidence of the outward senses. " The weapons of the
warfare,"*' which, in the terms of its first annunciation, it
declared against sin in its origin in the heart, and sin in all
its consequences in the world, and will never cease to pro-
secute until it has obtained the victory, were not to be,
even in this sense, " carnal." The first diffusion of
Christianity once accomplished, and the laws of nature
resumed their sway over the universe, never again to be
38^
disturbed for the purpose of teaching religion to mankind.
The manifestations of the power of God, whereby the
high purpose for which Christianity was sent into the
world was to be fulfilled, were thenceforward to be
restricted to the influences of the Holy Ghost, making
effectual upon the heart the presentation of its truths to
the understanding. These, whatever part they may have
acted in the older dispensations, constitute, as we have
already shown, the distinguishing characteristic of the
new one.
At the outset of our enquiry, we also observed
upon the operation of a law by which the whole of the
visible works of God are regulated : that of th^ crude-
ness and imperfection of the earlier modes of all existences,
and of all dispensations. We might have conjectured that
Christianity would throw no discord into this sublime
harmony, which blends into indissoluble oneness our con-
ception of the Mind by whom all things were created, and
are administered : and the declarations of the Word of God
entirely confirm our conjecture. The glories of the latter
days are dwelt upon by the prophets, both of the Old
and New Testament, in terms which it is needless that we
should here repeat ; inasmuch as, in anticipation of their
near accomplishment, they are now in the heart and on the
lips of all who name the name of Christ. While, on the
other hand, the apostles themselves complain of monstrous
and rapidly growing corruptions in their times, which even
their authority, armed with the miraculous gifts of the
Spirit, was unable to repress. Christianity then formed
no exception to this canon of the created universe. To
adopt the metaphor of its divine founder, when, by mira-
culous agency, " it was first sown in the earth, it was,
indeed, the smallest of seeds;" and its first symptoms of
326
organic existence were as crude, as imperfect, bearing as
little resemblance to the productions which would be
thrown forth by its maturer growths, as the first leaves
from a grain of mustard-seed. If by this our appeal to
the remaining records of early Christianity, we have in any
degree developed this truth, and made it more evident,
our purpose is accomplished.
Whence, then, did they derive their information, who
babble of the fountain being purest, nearest its source ;
who talk of Christianity in its nascent state as Christianity
in perfection ? Where did they discover that in regard of
the purity and moral efficacy of her doctrines, she was
only sent into the world to sicken and to languish ? That
she has never recovered the shock of her first collision
with human depravity ; that if we would contemplate any
thing like the effect of her proper influence upon the hearts
of men, we must confine our regards altogether to the
primitive times ; for her subsequent history has been little
else than a series of deteriorations and corruptions, which
at length have reduced her, in our day, to so abject a state
of anile decrepitude, that heaven and earth wait with
impatience for the fiat that shall consign her to unlamented
oblivion, and establish in her place some new economy of
miracles ? Such jaundiced and distorted views may, per-
haps, soothe, in some degree, the impotent rage of foiled
and baffled Papistry, or prove a convenient medium for
the exhibition of the wild phantasms of our modem Fifth-
Monarchy-men ; but we have endeavoured to show that
they are no more the true reflections of the page of history,
than of that of inspiration.
We assert, therefore, upon the authority of its own
declarations, that the New Testament is the last revelation
which God will vouchsafe during the continuance of the
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327
present economy : and, consequently, that the Bible is the
only instrument whereby, through the agency of the Holy
Spirit, mankind are to be instructed in the duties and
obligations comprehended under the term religion, to
the end of time. And we further state, as the result of the
investigation we are concluding, that there has been no
miscalculation here, on the part of Omniscience : the pro-
vision is abundantly sufficient to meet the emergency.
The oppositions and dangers with which Christianity has
had to contend, from the day wherein the Spirit was first
effused on the primitive disciples until now, and over
which it has invariably triumphed, have, in our times,
rendered needless any very painful exercise of faith to
discover her efficacy to accomplish the work that remains
for her on the earth.
Let, then, the zeal of the church of Christ be damped,
and her energies unnerved, no longer, by these puling
lamentations over the departed purity of the primitive
times. There is, probably, no question in religion, upon
which greater misapprehension prevails, than here. In
thus speaking of the early church, it is too common to
include in our conception, the miraculous dispensation
whereby Christianity was first established; whereas that
formed no part whatever of this world's economy. It was
as " the great sheet," in St. Peter's vision, " let down to
the earth," indeed, but " knit at the four comers," in
heaven. ' They upon whom the miraculous gifts were
effused, were " in the world but not of the world," in a
more emphatic sense, than even that in which the apostle
employed the expression. They walked the earth, as
Lazarus is said to have done after his resurrection. It was
not the mere power of working miracles that distinguished
them from ordinary men ; in all the varied circumstances
328
through which they passed during their sojourn here, the
bright line of demarcation which separated them from
things visible, and connected them with the world of
spirits, was constantly apparent throughout its whole
extent. Such was certainly the impression of the early
church ; for whatever anxiety she may have betrayed to
retain these gifts, it was with feelings not at all allied to
surprise or astonishment, that she beheld the entire dispen-
sation of miracles " received up again into heaven."
The church on earth, then, they never represented, at
any period which comes properly within the scope of eccle-
siastical history. An overwhelming majority of the early
converts necessarily consisted of those, whose prepossessions
and whose ignorance had called forth this display of the
divine power. And they were exactly in the situation of
men translated in a moment, from total darkness to the
unclouded blaze of noon. That truth, in search of which
they had groped in vain in every corner of their prison-
house, and which was still the subject of their anxious
enquiry, had been shot at once into their hearts and
understandings by the energy of Omnipotence. And we
are not surprised to find, that they were dazzled and
confounded with the intensity of the light it dijffused :
their overwhelming astonishment being far more excited
by the undoubted certainty and vast importance of the
truths which Christianity revealed, than by the miracles
which had first called their attention to them. The
whole tenor of their works evidences this : and I speak
it, to the shame of modern infidelity. But we maintain
that persons so circumstanced were no more qualified for
the office of commentators and expositors of the doctrines
of the New Testament, than the just liberated prisoner
to gaze upon the noon*day sun. Their errors are exactly
what might have been anticipated, under the circumstances
in which they were placed. They were not able to endure
the direct rays of the divine truth ; and, therefore, they
endeavoured to shade their aching eyes with the veil of
their former prepossessions, and to look upon Christianity
through the medium of certain notions which they drew
from the ritual of heathenism, and from the Platonic
philosoph3^
The testimony of the early fathers, then, to the
authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, and to their sole
authority as the guide of our faith, is invaluable. But
this is the only material purpose in religion which their
writings will subserve. It is a grievous and dangerous
error to set them forth, either as the infallible expositors of
the Christian faith, or as the authorised exemplars of
Christian practice. We have endeavoured to show, how
largely the doctrine and spirit of Christ''s religion were
corrupted and adulterated in passing through their works :
and to trace to their several sources the many evil admix-
tures wherewith they were there defiled.
It now only remains that we state the inevitable
conclusion to be drawn from these considerations, as our
general inference. The tradition of the early fathers is
possessed of 7io power of prescription whatever over the
Church of Christ in succeeding ages. Like the opinions
of authors of any other period, it is to be received " so
far as it is agreeable to God's word," and no further.
As several of the errors which they introduced into
Christianity, still remain in the creeds of many churches
and individuals, and upon the sole authority of their
tradition, (under one aspect or another) if we have
succeeded in establishing the premises upon which this our
330
conclusion rests, our labour will not have been altogether
in vain.
I have hitherto, by abstaining from the many
ethical deductions that presented themselves to my
mind in the course of my investigation, studiously
endeavoured to avoid the appearance of invading the
sacred function. There is a decorum in leaving to those
" who minister in holy things" the discussion of the sub-
jects proper to their office, which I feel the utmost
unwillingness, in any degree, to violate. But, notwith-
standing, one of these deductions has so close a connection
vnth the obligations of Christianity which are peculiar
to our own times, that I cannot refrain from recording
it, before I finally take leave of the subject.
No prophecy regarding the final triumphs of Mes-
siah's kingdom, can possibly have received its accomplish-
ment, in the circumstances of the first propagation and
establishment of Christianity in the earth. If I have
read their history aright, its corruption always kept pace
with its diffusion, during these early periods. Let, then,
those who bear, in our days, the ark of the New Covenant
between God and man, and all who have joined the
solemn and mysterious procession whereby it is rapidly
borne onwards, " thank God and take courage." The clouds
of ignorance and of error lower in dense and accumulated
masses, over the perilous paths which were the scenes of the
early progress of this precious depository of the hopes of
the human race: the future, and the future only, is
refulgent with the glory of God !
r
APPENDIX
I HAVE felt myself Called upon, in the preceding work, to avow
my attachment to the Church of England. And the circum-
stances of the times seem also to render imperative upon me, the
duty of stating my reasons for that attachment, on such parts of
the question between her and her opponents, as have been
brought under my notice in the course of the investigation.
I commence with the subject of church government ;
regarding which, I hesitate not to repeat my conviction, that
its details do not come within the scope of the revelation of the
New Testament; because it is absolutely impossible for any
church to arrange its internal polity in exact uniformity with the
exemplar of the primitive times, unless its members be also
endued with the same miraculous gifts. We cannot entertain the
supposition, that the presence or absence of so important a
circumstance would in no way modify or influence the form of
church government: it is in itself highly improbable, and is,
moreover, directly contradicted by the inspired writers. No list
of ecclesiastical dignities occurs in the New Testament,^ in which
all the higher ranks are not assigned to those who were miracu-
lously gifted ; to apostles, prophets, evangelists,^ &c. The
1 1 Cor. xii. 28. Eph. iv. 12.
2 If any distinct office is designated by the title evangelist, and of this
there can be but little doubt, it probably consisted in a miraculous power
conferred on certain of the immediate disciples of our Lord, of detailing the
332
ordinary offices, whether they be termed those of pastors, or
teachers, or bishops, or presbyters, or deacons, are invariably
spoken of, either directly or by implication, as subordinate to
these. We have admitted that two distinct functions only of this
nature existed in the primitive church ; and that the same state
of things continued in the time of Clement of Rome ; the date
of whose epistle, from casual allusions to certain historical facts,
we are able to limit to within five years of the death of the Apos-
tles St. Peter and St. Paul. But half a century afterwards, when
Ignatius wrote, we find that a change had taken place in the
mode of enumerating these offices. A third and superior order
had been erected over the other two, for the purpose of over-
looking the entire concerns of the church ; of which duties
the title of bishop is descriptive. Let it be observed that I only
quote this author as an evidence to the fact : my opinion of the
strain of mad blasphemy in which he enforces the authority of
the clergy, I have, I trust, not at sll scrupled to give elsewhere.
Hermas also, his contemporary, or, perhaps, his predecessor,
speaks to the same purport of " the bishop who is also the presi-
dent r"^ and I believe it has never been denied that this order
prevailed uninterruptedly in the church, from their times down
to the period of the Reformation.
I feel no doubt that this change in church government,
which took place during the latter half of the first century,
originated in the disorders and confusions that disturbed the
church, after the removal, by death or martyrdom, of those who
acts and discourses of their divine Master, with perfect and undeviating
accuracy. I think there is an allusion to some such gift possessed by the
apostle St. John, in the epistle of Irenseus to Florinus, (see above, p. 13.) ;
and nothing is more certain, from the whole tenor of the early Christian
writings, than that the facts, afterwards recorded in the Gospels, were very
sedulously detailed to their converts universally, by the first propagators of
Christianity ; a circumstance which pretty clearly shows tjie neceseity of
the supernatural endowment we are supposing.
3 Episcopus qui et prasscs.
were possessed of miracwiotis gifts, and who in virtue of them,
exercised a ^preme authority therein. We know well, that it
was against these, that the JSword of persecution was especially
unsheathed, and that tlney weiie always among the first to suffer.
Nothing, therefore, is more probable than that, when the apostles
had all retumed to him that sent them, and the gifts of prophecy
airrd evangelism had well nigh passed away, great and grievous
rnconvenrences would be experienced, from the want of their
superintendence and authority. It was in vain that their succes-
sors calted upon their sjtfiitual charges for the same deference
which had been willingly paid to the inspired and gifted apostles :
tirey asked for the visible credentials which these gifted persons
had presented to them, but, in the great majority of instances,
they had them not ; and, therefore, most probably, (for unhap-
pily we have no historical records to guide us,) they hesitated to
entrust with an uninspired and ungifted man, the powers which
hitherto had only been exercised by the accredited ambassadors
of heaven.
The epistle of Clement to the Corinthians establishes two
pointis in favour of our assumption. The one is, that great con-
fusions and disorders agitated the church at the time it was
written ; not confined to Corinth, but diffused very widely. The
other is, that &11 these originated in the refusal of the people to
yield to the clergy that degree of deference, which was deemed
needful for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline.
Evidence of the same state of things is also to be found in
the Shepherd of Hermas, which was probably composed in order
to procure for its author the credit of inspiration. And many
unintelligible places, in his Visions and Similitudes, are probably
allusions to persons and events connected with the quarrels in the
Christian community to which he was, in some way or other,
immediately attached.
We have also seen enough in the writings of Ignatius and
Polycarp, to show that the question, in their time, remained a
very sensitive one.
334
We know, then, that the church was agitated with continual
dissensions regarding the authority of the clergy during the latter
part of the first century : — that the persons upon whom the
Holy Ghost had conferred miraculous gifts at the first annuncia-
tion of Christianity by the apostles, must, in the course of nature,
have died somewhere about this period, (and we have historical
evidence that many of them had then already suffered martyr-
dom) ; we have also ascertained, that these persons exclusively
administered the supreme authority in the church ; the symbol
by which they held their high offices being the superna-
tural powers possessed by them. We, therefore, draw the
conclusion that these divisions originated in the absence of mira-
culous endowments, from the ministerial qualifications of their
successors.
We conceive that these are the circumstances which led to
the change in question. The supreme authority which had been
exercised by the apostles, was still found to be indispensable to
the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline, and was, therefore,
vested in one of the presbyters of each church, to whom, as the
functions of the several orders became better defined, the title of
bishop was appropriated. Nor am I prepared to deny, that the
foundation of such an arrangement may have been laid at an earlier
period. St. Clement mentions the triple order of High Priest,
Priest, and Levite, in the Jewish economy, in an argument which
certainly implies, (though he does not formally express it) the
existence of a corresponding triple order in the Christian church,
(Epist. ad Cor. I. c. 40., adjinem.) And the title PrceseSj Presi-
dent, which the bishop retained up to the end of the second
century, seems, at a very early period, to have been applied to
one among their number, in each synod of Presbyters.
But waiving this point altogether, the mode of ecclesiastical
polity for which we contend, was first adopted immediately upon
the cessation of miracles, and remained unquestioned to the time
of the Reformation. And though no one can possibly estimate the
logical force of this consideration, unaided by other circumstances.
I
335
more lightly than I do ; though I readily grant that there
are also errors of equal antiquity ; which maintained their influ-
ence in the church with almost equal uniformity : yet, I require
to be shown, that the presbyter-bishops and deacons of the pri-
mitive church administered the whole of her affairs, in entire
independence of the control and superintendence of the apostles,
before I concede this to be no longer tenable, as one of the
defences of episcopacy. If this be not demonstrated, (and in my
judgment, it never can be) I contend that the two uninspired
orders of the New Testament have nothing to do with the ques-
tion ; inasmuch as they were subjected to an authority and
control from these gifted personages, far more extensive than
that which we claim on behalf of the bishop, over the corres-
ponding orders in our own church.
I have, however, denied, and I still deny, that there is any
prescription whatever of the details of ecclesiastical polity. It is
a question of discipline : one of those which (as we have before
remarked) revelation brings within the compass of the human
understanding, and leaves there. If, then, it can be shown, that
the retention of the episcopal order has a tendency to impede the
progress of vital Christianity in the hearts of men, by an appeal
to facts ; by demonstrating the superiority, in life and doctrine, of
those Christian communities which have discarded, over those
which have retained it, (a corroboration which, as the experiment
has now been tried for upwards of three centuries, we have a per-
perfect right to demand,) we concede, that this would be a justi-
fication of the change in question. But though this is too
invidious a view of the subject to be dwelt upon for a moment,
we venture to say, it is not upon this ground that our antagonists
will choose to argue the question with us.
Episcopacy, then, being neither contrary to God's Word,
nor subversive of true godliness, we ask those who are at this
moment so loudly calling upon us to forsake the old paths, and
to follow them through new, and to us, untried ones, what is the
argument whereby they will prove, a priori, that such a superin-
336
teiidence is either inexpedient or unnecessary, in ecclesiastical
discipline ? Can they produce one, which is not refuted, even
by their own universal practice ? For where is the widely
extended and flourishing community among them, in which the
power and authority of the bishop are not fully represented,
though the name be abolished ?
In this state of the question, the example of the early church
seems to me of very great importance to its final decision. This,
in my judgment, is exactly the case wherein the earhest precedent
is the most valuable. Nay, for myself, I go even further than
this : I deny that I have any right to change an institution of the
visible church, of so venerable an antiquity, either by way of
experiment, or for any other reason, short of a conscientious
conviction that it is a plain infraction of the recorded will of God.
I feel that in that case I should be justly amenable to the " open
rebuke," which the Church of England directs to be administered
to such as " offend against the common order of the church, by
willingly, purposely, and openly breaking the traditions thereof,
which be not repugnant to the Word of God.'"^ But I beg to be
understood, that I strictly limit the decision to my own case. I
am not called upon to decide the conscientious scruples of others,
and it is as far from my right as from my inclination, to dictate
the faith of any man.*
The other debated point in the controversy, upon which our
subject has any particular bearing, will require but a brief notice.
It is now asserted that National Religious Establishments are not
only National evils, but evils also to religion itself, of the most
heinous and aggravated nature. Volumes, I understand, (for 1
have not seen them,) are written, comprehending in their " grasp
enorm," the history of the human race, from the expulsion from
Paradise, down to the year of their publication ; their general
purport being to trace to this " horror of horrors," (such, I am
4 Art. .S4.
5 Sed nee religionis est cogere religioneni, qiiaB sponte suscepi debeat
non vi TerMlian^ ad Sea p. c. 2.
•
337
informed, is the phrase,) all the evils that have afflicted human-
ity ; and their particular one, to ascribe the existing corruptions
of the Christian religion altogether to its national establishment
by Constantine. According to these Christian writers, the atro-
cities of a Nero, or a Diocletian, shrink into nothing when
compajed with his unpardonable crime, in declaring Christianity
to be the religion of the empire ! Of those they are altogether
oblivious : it is at the memory of Constantine that they " void
their rheum" incessantly. My answer to all this shall be confined
to a single chronological observation. The perpetrator of the
enormity in question did not succeed to the imperial power until •
the commencement of the fourth century. At the period I have
been considering, (which is limited to the two first centuries of
ecclesiastical history,) the temporal affairs of the church were
administered exactly in the way which they so vehemently
recommend for universal adoption. On their own showing,
therefore, I have merely to introduce to their notice the state of
Christianity at that time, as a practical illustration of the work-
ing of " the voluntary system." What becomes of the argument,
I leave those who have advanced it to determine : I really do
not take sufficient interest in its fate, to pursue it any further.
I am aware that there are many excellent persons, who
conscientiously dissent from the discipline of the Church of
England, and who, notwithstanding, greatly disapprove of the
wanton and unprovoked aggression she is now sustaining. I am
also aware that those who hold such opinions have ground of
complaint upon certain points in politics. I only regret that the
character of fierce partisanship, by which the present times are
distinguished, will no more allow me to co-operate with them in
obtaining their removal, than it will permit them openly to disa-
vow the conduct of these aggressors ; though I am well satisfied
of their disapprobation of it.
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